Game Of The Post #6: Black

Format: Sony Playstation 2

First Person Shooter

Developer: Criteron Games

Publisher: EA

Released: 2006

Black was an odd title. But fun. In a world heading more and more towards online FPS titles, especially modern based warfare ones, Black would probably be considered the last hurrah to the old school single player titles. Especially given it's 2006 release. And yet for it's time it looked incredible. Gun porn was what the developers called it, the menus alone had high rendered real time weapons firing off in the background and the level of detail on the weapons and enviroments throughout the game was exceptionally high.

The difficulty curve was high and hard, but very rewarding. One level involving a bridge attack in particular was very challenging but ranks high in my memory of the game. The plot however ranked low overall which isnt surprising as it was added as an afterthought and ended on a semi-cliff hanger, which never will be followed up on (more on this below).

The game sold itself to me entirely on what Criteron had been working on with the Burnout series which is odd when you think about it... a car series selling on a first person shooter. But visually the Burnout series had been pushing better and better visuals on the PS2 and thus the looks of this game would be amazing, and of course the screens and video sold this.

I sold off Black sometime last year via Trade Me. Had I never finished it at the time, I would have held onto it longer, but I had done everything I could in the game. These days the title is surpassed by stuff like the Call Of Duty series, but if you've got only a PS2 or an X-Box and are looking for something like that - Black is where you should head. In fact the X-Box version is avaliable to download and play on the 360 off the Live service as well.

The team who made Black more or less left Criteron, based on differing issues with how a planned Black 2 was handled by it's potential publisher, Electronic Arts, and are currently working on a new FPS called Bodycount to be released by UK publisher Codemasters sometime in 2011. Having watched the video of it, it hasn't grabbed me like Black did... unfortunately the competition these days in the genre is so thick and the games so simular, it probably won't see my console.

Soccer World Cup and NZ's Turn Of Attitude

No one needs to point out the irony to me that we sent a team called 'The All Whites' to South Africa... especially given the turbulent history of that topic NZ has with the country in the early 80's. Aside from this, which I just wanted to get out of the way first... don't get me wrong here, but I'm not a Soccer fan... and not really much of a sports fan in general really, casual observer really.

However NZ was the rank rank rank outsiders in the countries that made it in (I think we're like 81st or 82nd in World Rankings), and so there was no expectation for the team to win. And they didn't. But they also didn't lose any match they were in, instead managing to tie all 3 games they played and not making it through on clear points due to Italy's unexpected defeat. As a country, many were happy to be in and playing that first game. If we drew or even scored 1 goal people would have been happy, and many even said as long as we lost by 1 or 2 points we'd still be happy to have been there. It's nice to see positive support regardless of outcome by our nation... it's not something I'm accustom to here.

You see, our main sport here of course is Rugby... our team for this sport is The All Blacks (thus why the Soccer team is the Whites), but they - for mostly as long as I can remember - get a hard time for every loss they've had. The pressure is always on, especially for their world cup (to be held here next year too)... but honestly, big or small game, if we lose - even if the team battles well and literally loses by a point or so, you'll be hearing about it everywhere for weeks as if it was the end of the world.

There are justified reasons for complaining sometimes sure. NZ has a history of still being bitter about the "1981 Trevor Chappell Underarm bowling incident" in the cricket. At the time I'm sure this is all justified, but it's almost 30 years later and it's still often cited. Then there is the 1995 Rugby World cup loss for the AB's, which sparked a conspiracy stories about food poisoning, listening devices, and car alarms going off waking up players the night before the match, all which personally I'd state as poor excuses for just not being happy at losing.

Ref mistakes too seem justified, regardless of if it was unfair or fair, but a team losing is treated as the worst offense ever. Personally I've never gotten this... there are 2 teams in the game. One wins, One loses... it's just a fact. If you don't win then you don't win. You can get over this and hope next time you just win. Simple. So of course it was nice to see a change here... constant positive news stories about how well the team was doing, how they were being great role models as being a team to just take part... that it's what matters the most.

Game Of The Post #5: Auto Modellista

Format: Sony Playstation 2
Racing
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Released: 2002

Auto Modellista is an odd little gem that turned up on my doorstep thanks to the late great PSM magazine. Several years ago I entered a competition to win a Capcom prize package, and amazingly I won. The item which turned up on my doorstep? A Street Fighter t-shirt and 3 games. The games were the awesome Onimusha 2, the odd Dino Stalker (aka Gun Survivor 3), and the crazy (and also odd titled) auto modellista.

Modellista peaked my interest however so much I ended up writing a guide for it

Interestingly this is Capcom's first (and only still) racing game that they've ever made. Considering they managed to licence a number of brands and car types, they did an exceptional job and I can only guess a lack of overall sales may have been the cause as to why they never made a sequel or any other games like this. 

 

The game itself is fairly simple. It's a mix between arcade and sim, focusing on officially licensed parts and a balance system in the garage in which you tune your car to the best for the upcoming race. This however goes against type and gives you cell-shaded arcade style gameplay. 

 

Provided you've tuned your car correctly, you'll be drifting and power sliding your way around corners, splashing up marks behind you like in the photos shown.

My friend who saw the game said Capcom nailed what should have been the Anime 'Initial D' look which surprisingly the officially released titles hadn't actually managed to do. I've never seen the series myself, so I can't comment greatly, but looking at the games online they look very standard.

The other interesting thing about it is the replay theatre option, which went beyond the standard editor and allowed you to mix in various visual elements and grades over the top, which wasn't something often seen. The outcome, mixed with the cellshades, made something of a music video out of your replays.

Sadly the game lacked a lot of depth. Aside from unlocking all of the cars and extras, there was a very limited number of tracks and the version in PAL areas lacked the Online play.

The US had a delayed version which went multiformat and included extra unlocks, cars, modes, and the online play. The game was re-released in some countries as "U.S. tuned" which added these features back into the game for those markets, however it was never released over here and thus I never picked it up.

I currently still own the game, however it will probably end up on my sell pile at this stage as, while doing the guide, I've basically played through everything I could in the game. It's a great quirky little title and I suggest if you get the chance to play it then definitely do so, I don't think you'll regret it.

So... my PS3 died... but how are you?

So I had intended on doing my long delayed follow up to the PS3 update saga from a few months back, however last week my PS3 gave way to the Yellow Light Of Death, or YLOD as it's known online. This in of itself wouldn't have been an issue as I'd somehow managed to cover myself for problems for 3 years when I brought it.

However, the first thing was I was playing a game when it died... a copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that I rented... which was stuck in the console. Apparently every PS3 since the original 60GB BC models have a manual eject option... except mine was a 60GB model. Secondly I haven't backed up my drive... so while I can re-download all my DLC contents and add-ons, my save files have gone. Which is a shame about for a number of the games on my shelf.

- Assassin's Creed II
I was 3% away from 100% trophies, which mostly entitled to getting feathers on the game map. This in of itself isn't so hard to do in perhaps a normal replay, however I also had side quests to do. I also don't know how that impacts on the stuff I got from the Uplay website via Ubisoft.

- Burnout Paradise
Starting over for the third time (once before trophies, once after trophies).

- Ghostbusters
Was currently replaying in pro-mode, and was a half of the way in and working on trophies.

- GOW Collection / GOW 3
Have to replay the games all over again to unlock the challenge modes which I was going to play next.

- GTA4
Completed save file is gone.

- Lego Star Wars
Thanks to my friend Ryan, my save was around 76% complete. Restart.

- MGS4
Aside from the completed save files and bonus from replaying the game, the MGS Database uses a complete game file. What is more annoying though is the in-game DLC for the game is painfully slow to get from Konami's servers... it took me a day to get all the bonus music, camo, and podcasts.

- RE5
Aside from the fact I'd just gotten the Gold Edition, which requires me to have at least finished the game for all the bonus content to become unlocked, I have to re-earn everything... which I figure I funneled about 30-40 hours into on the original game.

- Rock Band / Rock Band 2 / Beatles Rock Band
I don't know how to recover a band stat (will check the RB website, it is assigned to my PSN name), because my band (Sure, Not ) but all my stats on RB1 is gone. Thankfully the unlock key for RB2 unlocks them all for use in it without the legwork, but still I put a lot into that as well.

- Uncharted / Uncharted 2
Was needing to finish Crushing in both titles, plus everything I unlocked is gone. I think you have to play through Hard before you unlock Crushing.

The rest of the games I have can be replayed still and aren't as a big deal. The only other thing on there I wanted to finish aside from Wolverine, which I was playing at the time of death, was a save for Batman: Arkham Asylum which I was about 40% into from a 3 day rental. Considering I want to buy it still at some stage, thats not so bad.

In any case, you live and learn... and next time I will backup my drive to another drive space regularly and copy individual save files across as well. With any luck my PS3 when it returns will last longer than 2.5 more years.

Why Videogame Movies Have More Or Less Failed...

The other night my girlfriend and I sat down to watch a couple of films from my DVD collection. She picked out Rush Hour, which I'd not seen for quite some time but both of us had seen before (my memory of the film was fairly good, but my understanding is that Rush Hour 2 might actually be one of those films that is a better film than the original was). The other DVD was Silent Hill.

My recent completion of Silent Hill Homecoming on PS3 (which I'd put off for several months because frankly the game was fan wankery, mostly consisting of repeated scenes from earlier games combined with the film... thus...) made me actually want to see the film again since I had only seen it last when I brought it on DVD. Seeing as she had not seen it before it also helped. It helped as well I guess that until I told her, she actually had no idea the movie was based of a videogame and she had no idea I had the collection released thus far on my shelf.

Watching through the movie with someone who'd never seen the games gave me a new appreciation for quite why these films frequently... frequently is probably the wrong word.... for why these films always fail horribly as more credible fare.

Personally I believe, and probably lots of others, that Silent Hill is probably the most faithful of all videogame adaptions thus far. The art direction and camera work in particular draws exceptional parallels to the world created in the original games, and the story and environments pay several major homages to the titles well. Additionally Akira Yamaoka's music from through the series is used appropriately during the film as well.

My girlfriend did not have issues with most of this in particular. She did feel that while there were constantly brilliantly crafted shots and sets, that it seemed to be at the cost of other things that may have been important. She also felt there was a particular brand of over-acting or over-dramatics about some of it, yet at the same time the main character didn't in particular seem freaked out enough over some of the things that happened. In short it seemed to be at odds with itself on what it exactly wanted to be. Additionally no time it really spent on building a relationship with the characters at the start. But overall I think she felt the story just lacked not from key moments or momentum, but that it had no solid base.

I sat there on reflection at the end of the film and realized the story I saw was probably different from what she had seen... my history with the games gave more insight into why there are alternate worlds, who the guy with the pyramid head and the knife was, and so on and so forth. But that additionally she was correct. It's not exceptionally long before the movie arrives in Silent Hill... and while the videogames didn't need back story, the movie did. You learned as you went in the games. You read notes, you listed to dialog. You read the instruction manual and the back cover. You had plenty of time to understand. The movie did not allow this.

It started making me think of other films and then had to think over what had made other videogame films work or not work. This week a new one has opened with Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, based on the old Jordan Mechner series which has was craftily reworked in 2003 and reinvented as a new series. As it's still on release, I started to think about how much game movies have made and why they don't do so well.  

So I looked into the top 10 grossing live action films based off games according to USA and Worldwide box office sales listed via IMDb and Box Office Mojo. Just to prove how sad I am, I've actually seen all 10 and I... as shamed as I am to admit this, own 7 out of 10 of them on DVD. This is the list from 10th to 1st ranked by US earnings.

10. Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997) - $35,927,406 / $51,376,861

Mortal Kombat II came out at a time where interest in the series had declined, but the intent was - much like the original film, which came out around the time MK3 was launched, to rekindle the series in the fans hearts. Sadly it didn't work.

The tagline for it was 'Destroy All Expectations' - it certainly did. It ruined everything the first film managed in one complete go. The original film was a zany fast paced action flick, which quite passable effects at the time of it's release. While a direct sequel (literally picking up where the end of the last movie was... recapping in a horrible voice over by the non-Christoper Lambert-James Remar), this film had no heart, humor (just lots of unintentional stuff), horrible script and dialogue, some of the worst effects ever in a major picture. It was a shallow empty husk of the series - much like the actual series itself as a game had become. The two best things about it is that Johnny Cage is killed in the first six mins - just to be replaced with new good characters at a whim, and the heeeeelirious mud-wrestling sequence with poor continuity to boot - when Sonya turns up in the next scene completely clean.  It's better than the yellow car in Commando!

A few years back early production took place on a 3rd film, reportedly somehow Cage would be back from the dead and new characters would be added. But it hit production problems and never happened. Apparently there is discussion/talk of a 3rd film to happen, however it will likely be a reboot of the franchise and not be connected to the two earlier films if the rumors are be believed.

9. Hitman (2007) - $39,687,694 / $99,965,792

Hitman should have probably done better than it did on paper. Eidos' (now a part of SquareEnix) series has quite a following, and while it was often rumored that Vin Diesel was interested in playing Agent 47, Timothy Olyphant seemed a better choice... on paper. I saw the 'Uncut' edition of Hitman on DVD, which was not really any longer than the original film by any major stretch.

The problems were many. The script attempted a balance of trying to keep somewhat towards the origins of the character, but put him in a situation a bit further beyond the games. It was slow too. Dialogue was forced.Olga Kurylenko tried her best and failed.... something she wouldn't try again...And Olyphant's version of the character got no development with audiences. You didn't dislike him because he wasn't horrible over the top and just did his job, but you couldn't like him because of the job and the general air around the character.

The movie made a modest amount given it's budget and a sequel is apparently due to happen.


8. Resident Evil (2002) - $40,119,709 / $102,441,078

Resident Evil is a bit of a sore point for me. A large fan of the series as games, the film was never going to be much other than a disappointment. The trilogy - thus far - has been Sony Screen Gem's 2nd biggest release as far as profits go (behind the Spiderman films), and they and the makers - Constantine Films, Davis Films - are happy with that. I was very keen back in 1997/1998 when George A. Romero was attached to direct, however he was dropped and it took 3 more years before the movie happened. Resident Evil did do one thing however, which was put zombies back on the screen in a big way.

The film itself is much like all other Paul W.S. Anderson films... a bit hit or miss. The ideas are there, there are some key links to the series which spawned it, while becoming it's own thing. Originally the casting call talked only of a homicidal supercomputer, although thankfully it wasn't that bad. The best sequence is definently the laser hallway scene, which seems to be a homage to the movie Cube. Milla Jovovich's casting was suspect, but she eventually got another husband out of it and some sequels. Can't be all that bad for her. Since it's release in early 2002, zombies have become one of the major horror movie attractions again and even George got to finally make a new zombie film in 2004. A forth sequel is due out this year, Resident Evil Afterlife.


7. Max Payne (2008) - $40,689,393 / $85,416,905

My car was broken into while I saw this terrible film. Perhaps not a way to start a critical point about this film... but to be honest I was surprised how much it made and that it ranked this high. The game is a dark drug related noir title which has a self-aware sense of humor. The movie however is a dark (visually) drug related bore title which has no sense of humor and some very very bad casting.

Much like Silent Hill the nice visuals overshadow the film, however unlike Silent Hill this doesn't mean they have followed the game - more specifically they've just looked at how to shoot stuff in slow motion and use shadows to great effect. Mark Wahlberg chews scenery. And the plot. Because it's a thin as a single sheet of paper. Learning she wasted energy for nothing in Hitman, Olga Kurylenko turns up for eye candy and nothing more.

Best thing about the whole movie (aside from the nice shot of the gun firing with snow on it) is probably the credits sequence which actually seems to get the idea of what the game is about. Shame the preceding 1 and a half hours or so couldn't.


6. Silent Hill (2006) - $46,982,632 / $97,607,453

Not much to say here I haven't said earlier above.

The art design was spectacular, the story and pacing not so much. Fans felt the crowds of cult/church people in limbo plus the barb wire thing was a little too beyond the games although I'm unsure how the general audience would gage this (my girlfriend didn't find most of the movie that scary - aside from the bugs - mostly because early on they kinda avoid showing you a lot in much detail until around the time the janitor guy (shown to the right) crawls out across the floor.

And yet sadly everything else was so much of the games it limits the connections for people who've never played them. Probably one of the three listed films that does have a very heavy connection between it's game counterpart but for non fans this works against it quite a bit.

A sequel is on the cards, but what form this will take and when is yet to be known.


5. Resident Evil Extinction (2007) - $50,648,679 / $147,717,833

The 3rd in the RE series took only just less in the US than the 2nd, but actually made more worldwide than the 2nd overall which is fairly great box office for third in a series.

After the sequel the third film had not been left with a lot of places it could go, and so it borders the crazy in numerous places. Okay, basically the whole thing.

Why is there sand everywhere? How could this happen worldwide in just a few months? Why doesn't Alice use her powers better and more appropriately. Why do main characters that don't die live, and ones that should live die?

The ending is one of those crazy over the top ones too, where you kinda think it's better they leave it where it was.

But they aren't.

Guess we'll see what happens next later this year.

In 3D.

Ugh.


4. Resident Evil Apocalypse (2004) - $51,201,453 / $129,394,835

In retrospect the second film made me appreciate the original film a little more.

While everything is ramped up, like good sequels do, the scripting is a little loose, the dialogue is poor, the plot is silly, and the acting is crazy. In an attempt to make up for the lack of large connections in the original film, Anderson's script (although he didn't direct) tries to include numerous references and characters from the series into the films.

There are some good ideas in here, but they are overshadowed by the bad, stupid, and down right horrible.

I think most of all is the 'guy in a suit' Nemesis and the cardboard cut out bad guys.

Oh and Jared Harris as Dr Ashford. Please note for your acting in future: Just because your character is in a wheelchair does not make him mentally disabled. 


3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (2003) - $65,660,196 / $156,505,388

I don't remember much of the Tomb Raider sequel. I think this says a lot, because it was obviously very forgettable. It also has a stupidly stupid long stupid title. While it still made a good deal of money (mostly off the back of a few things, but I'll get to that later) I personally believe it was the worse of the two films... however while critics in general basically disliked both Tomb Raider titles this one has better marks overall. Maybe it's just because this film was directed by Jan De Bont I dislike it.... but I don't know if it's just that.

The film follows a course similar to later title in the game series, jumping from country to country on a single quest (to find Pandora's Box, via way of a key in the titular item). Fish-Lips Jolie does a convincing acting job as the badly proportioned tomb raider... and it's interesting to note that both Tomb Raider's have cast a leading man that has become quite famous in recent years for action movies more than their traditional fare (Gerard Butler in this and Daniel Craig in the first film).

It's also worth noting that the movie launched in 2003 with a PS2 game, Angel of Darkness, at the same time. Angel had deviated away from traditional earlier games which the movie was based on, which bad enough in and of itself. However the game as well was rushed in order to be released before the film. It was buggy and badly designed, and while the movie made a decent profit the game spelled the end of the current line of Tomb Raider games and almost one would believe almost killed the series entirely.


2. Mortal Kombat (1995) - $70,454,098 / $122,195,920

This might be a tall call but I honestly (personally) believe that Mortal Kombat is probably the only title to deserve this much money and I would also call it the most successful video game movie to date when it comes to critical response, fan response, and commercial take overall. Where Street Fighter and Double Dragon had both bombed fairly poorly just several months earlier, Mortal Kombat did exceptionally well.

Firstly it was one of the first movies to use the power of the internet. The official website provided lots of info, details, and video preview(!) of the film which created a lot of buzz.

Secondly the movie doesn't take itself entirely seriously and frequently plays over the idea it's a videogame or at least comes from a game background. It creates a story around it's mythos with characters that the fans knew, and non fans could easily understand and follow. On that line it's story is straight forward but doesn't treat it's audience like idiots.

There are many flaws with the film of course. The main one is... well for a bloody fighting game it's lacking in blood. And lengthy fights. In fact the best fight in the movie isn't the last. It's the one between Liu Kang and Reptile. One almost believes however the blood content was left on the floor for a couple of reasons. First was the rating, because the core audience is probably aged 13 or 14, and if it got some sort of higher R rating well then thats the core audience gone. And secondly was due to the high exposure and contovercey into the game itself with the US Govt. (in particular Joe Lieberman) - well covered in the aptly titled Doco - "Moral Kombat."

However it was filled with good effects for it's time (perhaps TV sci-fi level these days really). It's soundtrack complimented and extended the idea of it being a videogame (very electronic backed and of course, how catchy was that main theme song). It was cross-promoted and released along with an Arcade game release of Mortal Kombat 3, which unlike Tomb Raider in 2003, was completed properly.... and actually good. And quite simply overall it was a fun movie.

It is cheesy to watch it now (yup, this is one of the 7 I own) but it was a darn good generally entertaining movie back in 1995, but I still enjoy it as a guilty pleasure.


1. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (aka. Tomb Raider) (2001) - $131,168,070 / $274,703,340

The only videogame to pass 100 million at the US domestic box office, and even then it made more in the US than Mortal Kombat made worldwide. Prince Of Persia will likely be the next videogame movie to hopefully eye this prize... but we'll have to wait and see if it'll have any chance.

So why this film above all others? Hype mostly you would say. It was exceptionally well promoted, promoted again, and cross-promoted to boot. In the years leading up the film, Lara Croft became a digital icon. She didn't just appear in games.... she appeared in commercials, magazine covers, on the video wall for U2 (who in turn did work for the soundtrack), so it already had a great push. The games hadn't entirely over sold themselves just yet. And Paramount put a lot of money into it's marketing as well.

To top it off, Jolie being cast as the title character added it's own hype. By 2000 she was a hype sensasion all by herself. People had already said she was the perfect choice for the role before she was signed on. They believed she had the look and the people making the film listened to everyone to confirm it. It was a combination that worked.

As with a lot of films, there are ones that make more money even when they are critically panned by most. Tomb Raider is one of these films. The plot is fairly straight forward. The direction is passable by Simon West, but really at the end of the day - the game was to control a female Indy Jones-style character and when you put that back on the screen it's fairly 1 dimensional sadly. And yet it made mega bucks.

However saying that Tomb Raider (and to a degree also it's sequel) get the concept right of putting that game on screen - the Tomb Raider movie could have quite easily been the plot of a Tomb Raider game, the characters have the same depth, there is a MacGuffin object to quest for, and the pacing feels like levels to a game... Still I didn't find it that entertaining. And neither did most critics it seems.

Still to come this year officially: The King of Fighters, Tekken, and as mentioned Resident Evil Afterlife. Unofficially plenty of others. Plus we are yet to see what Prince Of Persia will make, but after 1 weekend so far it's already technically now in 10th place. After all this because I'm sure people a curious, these are the other videogame movies (live action) ranked in best to worst US box office take... from 11 downwards. 


Street Fighter (1994) - $33,423,521 / $99,423,521

Doom (2005) - $28,212,337 / $55,987,321

Super Mario Bros. (1993) - $20,915,465 / n/a

Wing Commander (1999) - $11,578,059 / n/a
 
House of the Dead (2003) - $10,249,719 / $13,818,181

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) - $8,742,261 / $12,707,250

Alone In The Dark (2005) - $5,178,569 / $10,442,808

In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007) - $4,775,656 / $13,097,915 

BloodRayne (2005) - $2,405,420 / $3,650,275
 
Double Dragon (1994) - $2,341,309 / n/a

D.O.A. - Dead Or Alive (2006) - $480,813 / $7,500,497

Postal (2007) - n/a (Never Officially Released Wide in the US, 21 screens only) / $146,741

Far Cry - $0 (Never Officially Released in the US) / n/a

Unsurprisingly if people know their videogame movies well, there is one director on here more than anyone else - Uwe Boll (pictured right).

He has six films in that list with a seventh I couldn't find any details on.... as it was released straight to DVD; BloodRayne 2.

Just in case people ask, the 3 movies I don't own on DVD are:

Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Tomb Raider, and Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life. Yup... I own Max Payne. Don't ask.

As for the girlfriend.... well next up, I will probably subject her to the first Resident Evil film and see what she says... :)

PS3 Gaming Overload

After the delays to testing the rest of my games for updates (mostly due to the PS3 error - which I'll get to in a bit), I've been in the middle of finishing up numerous games sitting on my shelf for the PS3. This is something I will hopefully later this year be able to extend to other consoles, however the problem I have with that is in some cases I'll want to replay other titles in my collection once I start doing that.

Back to the case at hand. The PS3 disruption on March 1st was due to a software issue in a piece of hardware within the majority of the older "fat" PS3 units, which couldn't handle a leap year. After 1 day of outage the system corrected itself, re-syncing back visually with the correct time, but the CPU clock is now 1 day out. Sony hasn't yet patched this problem which means if it's not, in 4 years time (but obviously 1 day removed) the same problem will happen. I'm sure with that time frame, somehow it'll be updated.

With the CPU correcting itself I was finally able to play Heavy Rain, which I'd purchased the week before. I was very apprehensive about the game because while I'd like the look of it for quite some time as it got closer to release I expected that it would end up not being that great. And while the first reviews were positive, I started the game not liking it so much... but eventually got very caught up in the story and played it constantly over a week or so, eventually finishing all the endings and adding the title to being the second Platinum trophy I've gotten for a game after the Resident Evil 5 one last month. My copy also came as a collectors edition with DLC content which I've downloaded, but I've kept the extra chapter to come back to later as something else to play and more DLC is expected.

After this I went back to Aliens Vs Predator and completed both Alien and Predator single player campaigns on hard. While there was the odd tough spot, I managed to finish them both while also picking up all the collectibles (exactly as I had with the Marine campaign first) and picked up numerous extra trophies. Some Multiplayer will be next the next time I play the game.

I had also managed to try Bayonetta which I was borrowing from my friend Andrew, but the game really isn't my cup of tea - too much going on screen at once. Odd enough seeing as I was a big fan of Devil May Cry and simular titles (including God of War, which the third title is out this week - more on this later).

Prior to these I managed to finish in general over the last month or two Call of Duty 4's single player campaign, Ghostbusters The Video Game, Assassin's Creed II, Uncharted 2 on Hard, Uncharted on Hard as well, Resident Evil 5's remaining trophies (as mentioned in the earlier post), Silent Hill Homecoming, and the the Half Life 2 portion of The Orange Box.

This week, Thursday specifically, I will be picking up God of War 3 in the massive Pandora's Box Collection set which over in PAL areas also includes the God of War Collection of the HD version's of God of War and God of War II, which was never officially released here.

I never finished God of War II, and I'm rusty on to the story line of God of War having not played it since early late 2006/early 2007 so I'm going to play all 3 in order once I get them. This will be my next set task. Then back to my collection to continue. With that still on my shelf to complete including as above or otherwise, and in no particular order:

Multiplayer for Aliens Vs Predator

I have 70-odd feathers to collect and 2 trophies for Assassin's Creed II linked to them (plus some extra assassin's missions and other side quests if I'm up to it). 

More Burnout Paradise (general Gameplay)

More Ghostbusters collectables/trophies

Replay Grand Theft Auto IV

Replay Metal Gear Solid 4

Replay Devil May Cry 4

Replay Mirror's Edge, extra trophies and content

Replay Silent Hill Homecoming

Continue Playing Half Life 2 Episode 2 and Episode 3

Complete Uncharted on Crushing

Complete Uncharted 2 on Crushing

I also want to pick up Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City in the coming months and add these to the pile. Gold Edition's bonus content will be added to my list, and the GTA stuff will come after I replay and refresh myself on the original GTAIV first.

Additionally before I finish, you will have noticed I'm behind on Game Of The Post updates (as of this post specifically, 5 - but I'll probably do the PS3 updates post - so 6 then) which I will make up for with new posts before any new topical ones. Until then...

Me Vs. IGN + News Thats Not News (Updated)

I've recently had a bee in my bonnet (for lack of better expression) over various websites posting news that's not really news at all on their websites in an attempt to either look like they're trying to crack something open, or just filling their front page with updates that didn't really take anything produce. A great example of this I saw yesterday was on IGN, but before I go further on that a quick rant about why I still have issues with the site leading into this.

I've had a love-hate issue with the site since late 2000 or so, about the time Mark Jung took main control of it as the COO, brought up several billion websites - including decent ones like the excellent GameSages, filled the main site with crap content made by idiots, and almost killed the entire website off... three times in about a year under the company Snowball Inc (which split its stock options several times to keep afloat). One of their big ideas when the company almost went under was to make a section called Insider which charged people a monthly/annual fee for extra content, early content, and early web HD video. The section, which I had access to for a couple of years via a friend who'd gotten his account for free when he purchased a game early on, was very limited on updates. And while it still exists - generally providing specific clean HD records, podcasts and downloadable PDF's of content, these days the company is owned via Fox Media and doesn't have any worries about closing.

In 2002 I posted a copy of a press conference video IGN had posted via Insider when Resident Evil 4 was properly re-announced for release to the Nintendo Gamecube. I had Tal Blevins, who I believe still works for IGN currently, e-mail me with an attempted cease order by making threats of their "legal department" - which didn't exist at the time. The first file I linked to was loaded on GameSpy's server because my good friend Rammy had put it there to reduce load from my host - however I eventually mirrored it and then linked it on my own site. Ironic these days as GameSpy and IGN are both owned and connected by the same parent these days and Tal would have been able to just get the file removed.

Because I didn't back down, this created an argument on the IGN forums where I defended myself clearly and actually won the argument against Tal and the forum users. I never had to take the video down, Tal's legal threats never came through. My point that I proved was that the entire operation was a cash grab because IGN didn't want people getting the video for free when they had the hopes that people would pony up $19.95USD or more just to see it.

Shoot forward to now and I respect IGN a bit more than I did back then. Their content is generally available to all without an attempted cash grab. The site is generally better set out (early layouts were cluttered and harder to navigate). The one thing that has kept it also good is that they have archived everything going back to the PSXOnline and N64.com days... so we're talking 1997 and 1998. While I also have less beef with their reviews as much as I used to (I'd love to think I was one of the first to start using the term IGNorant in description of their content around decade ago, and I never disliked them as much as GameSpot's - something for another time) the one thing I still have a big issue is their news content.

On a day-to-day basis I use Kotaku for my source for my gaming news. It's less cluttered, more precise, more topical, more updated - and the two specific things I love about it which IGN really managed to piss me off about, is Kotaku always credits it's sources and authors correctly and clearly, and their news is generally always news (and more specifically, when it's not its always marked as such).

Of those two things firstly IGN hardly ever cites a source for it's content, unless of course it really is their own exclusive which they splash everywhere all over it. Frequently, and this was an argument used in my video defense, IGN will take news and content (scans of screenshots specifically) from Famitsu and other Japanese magazines without citing a source. This happens less frequently these days than it used to, but I still occasionally will see them do it.

But the one thing above all which annoys me is this thing they frequently do, which is posting news which isn't really news.

What I saw yesterday was a story for Rock Band: Green Day (or Green Day: Rock Band - depending who you talk to). This story which discussed the fact that the game, unlike the other releases - including The Beatles - would not be coming out with a band set. As obvious as this seems.

I don't know IGN - had you neglected the fact that unlike all the other titles EA had released for Rock Band (specifically RB1, RB2, and Beatles), a band set was announced at the same time the game was. Or that most people own a comptable set or could pick one up separated if they didn't because of the reported stacks of equipment that is still currently sitting in stores and warehouses.

Or the fact, which you have also reported on frequently, that the genre has lost a lot of money in the last year... from of all things, saturation - mostly due to Activision's Guitar Hero glut, releasing six titles in as much as 14 months.

Kinda all adds up that releasing this as software only would make obvious and perfect sense, but then again there is the IGN story. Which in the end, after the story being entirely speculation and conjecture based on the fact nothing was announced - EA contacted them to say indeed no hardware will be released and the title will be software only.

Great work guys. Seeing as you just did a preview on the title, maybe tomorrow you can make a story on the parallels between EA making the new Medal of Honor like Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare titles for another bit of news that isn't really at all obvious.

Update - Thus proving that IGN is still not as well supported as I thought, there are discussions online today of a number of IGN staff being let go to keep profit margins up and to allow for future investments in other departments.

PS3 Game Updates... [Updated... ironically]

Oh no.... yup it's a rant about this.

It's been a while since I've written in here, but not through lack of want... just been busy with work, friends coming to stay, and most of all gaming. Which of course leads me the point of this update.

Slow downloading, annoyingly large, and almost constant game updates for PS3 titles I own. In fact as I write this right now, one is downloading to my PS3... 226MB in size, the time for the download it tells me it has left currently as I write (at so far 2% downloaded) is 167 mins... anyone feel like watching the extended cut of one of the Lord of the Rings films while we wait? :p

Sadly, while I'd be okay with this on a infrequent basis, it seems to be a overly frequent thing. The issues that make it worse are that you can't background download the patch, and then just install it later. And unlike the 360, you can't download the update off the net and transfer it across - you have to do it while putting the game in.

I currently have 26 PS3 games on my shelf, which includes a couple I've borrowed from a friend at this time... and in the last month or so I've actually played quite a lot of them. Here is a list of updates I've had in just the past month or two of games I've put in the PS3:

Aliens Vs. Predator
Brand new purchase, put the game in... update straight away. Moderately sized and downloaded fast. This won't be the only event like this.

Assassin's Creed II
Patched around the time I was halfway through my playthrough after buying it to fix glitches, including a game ending one. So I was happy to get it.

Bayonetta
Borrowed from friend. Patch still to be installed which fixes some issues and allows you to install the game to the HDD.

Burnout Paradise
Patch is still to be downloaded of around 400MB in size, it was too slow and long for me to care about when last loading. It adds extra content into the game and fixes some stuff, but it was going to take over 200 mins. Legitimate reason I guess.


Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
I swapped this for another game so I only played it for the first time about a month or so back. Small and quick patch.


Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Patched when I brought it, although it was after the games release. Patch was for fixes plus correcting visuals apparently closer to the 360 version. I felt this one was worth it.


Grand Theft Auto IV
Showed my friend this because he'd never played it. Patch to download still, but haven't. I think this one was the one that added trophies and fixed some issues with Multiplayer. Quite and old one, but seeing as I hadn't put the game in for quite a while it's not surprising.

Heavy Rain
Another brand new purchase but patched on day one. It's the patch I'm currently downloading now, trying to play the game for a bit before work. But that wont happen today.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
I would suspect this is an online update more than anything, but seeing as I haven't played much of this since I originally got it - not surprising it needs some sort of update to a degree, but considering there was nothing I could see wrong with it and it's not the type that probably needs it - then I don't see why either.

Resident Evil 5
Another legitimate reason. Patched the game to add in some content, support the new DLC content and change save files to Ver 2.0, so I'm fine with that. Still haven't downloaded it, but still of point.


Rock Band
I went to transfer my songs from Rock Band 1 to 2, and before I could do it I had to patch the first game.

Rock Band 2
Once I'd been able to transfer my songs to HDD, I loaded up RB2 and.... another update straight out of the box. Was brand new here in NZ at the time, but the game had been out overseas for over a year at least so it seemed like legitimate reason to have had time for an update.

The Orange Box 
Large patch on start up. Had been a long time since I'd last played TOB, so it was probably for good reason - and I'd suspsect mostly the online support for TF2.

Uncharted 2: Among Theves
Two updates in a week.... one was an old update from the very end of last year, which I'd not gotten because I'd stopped playing a week or so before the update originally arrived. Downloaded and finished most of the games trophies, was very close to 100% and then they updated again... which affected the Multiplayer and added in new MP trophies the following week. The changes to how the MP works haven't gone down well with players as well.

So around half of the games on my shelf have had updates that needed to be downloaded, and while it looks like it means half of them don't.... it's purely because I haven't put the other games in there. While older titles I have are less likely to have them, there could be a few that do.

I think I'll come back to this topic next time and I'll go through and test the remaining titles on my shelf...

UPDATE: Today the PSN crashed for people with older "Fat" PS3's much like myself, and my trophies have disappeared from AVP. Oddly enough the PSN seems to keep these updates separate and loading in, you could still potentially patch games. However the other issue with the fault is that certain games wont let you play them, even offline - like AVP and Heavy Rain. What a day to make this rant huh?

10 months, 25 days...

...is how long it took me to finish Resident Evil 5 100% (more or less).

Considering that the series was... well is... still one of my favs, I don't know why it took this long. With it I got my first PS3 platinum trophy though which may seem quite fitting (although was only 3% away from the one in Assassin's Creed 2 and 1 'Crushing' game completion away from it in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune). It was also my 250'th trophy overall.

This was a week or so back now but I kinda reflected it on the fact that I just didn't like RE4 and RE5 (they are of simular styles) compared to the earlier titles. RE4 has a lot of good things that have impacted heavily on the industry as a whole in the past five years but as a sequel to a series I was a big fan of I just wasn't as passionate about it as I was with the earlier games in the series.

There are still a few collectables to gain in RE5, plus some mercenaries missions I haven't done and characters I haven't unlocked. Capcom is releasing the first of their proper DLC in about five days and while I won't get it as DLC content, I probably will buy the Gold Edition game and finish these later. In particular the added scenario which is a homage to the original title is perhaps the main reason why I will, but I'm in no hurry. But I will go through and get the rest later with this version.

It's been said a lot around the net lately but one of the segments from the Heavy Rain demo reminds everyone of the older titles a bit and shows promise that perhaps Capcom can make something that is the best of both worlds for the sixth title in the series. I don't expect Capcom will but it would be nice if they did something more akin to the Umbrella/Tricell lab that's part way through RE5. It was genuinely the best part of the game.

Capcom has been cagey with what they will do next with the series, which isn't surprising. Between RE5 and the two Wii gun outings - Umbrella and Darkside Chronicles - they've kinda put themselves into a corner where there isn't much story left from the original titles. With the exception of porting the two Wii titles to PS3 and 360 to use with their own motion remotes, the studio will need to think long and hard about it.

They could go for following characters from the series we don't know what happened to (Rebecca and Barry in particular, who are both turning up as playables in RE5 Gold's extra mercs rosters) or they have to go with something new but entirely connected. The BSAA in RE5 is probably a good setup for this, but the series is very quickly running out of villains with connection and instead a bland faceless corporation enemy is becoming more and more likely.

I would love to hear something from Capcom at E3, just to confirm they have started working on it (and if a teaser trailer like the target render from E3 for RE5 is a possibility I'd also be happy), but in the mean time I'll have to wait for Dead Rising 2 later this year for a Capcom zombie-related fix.

Last Played: Heavy Rain Demo, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Last Watched: Twins

Utter fail... maybe not...

SO.

I finally got to play the AVP demo on PS3.

Rebellion have noted that they have stuffed up on the PS3 matchmaking which is why the connection never happened and things start to be improving (games can now connect, takes about 5-10 mins - but it's better than never and waiting for over half an hour). I also managed to play some games with my friend Andrew and while my first go at the game left me feeling underwhelmed the subsequent goes I've felt better about the title as I've gotten more play time with it.

In movement the game seems to lack on the PS3, but visually screen-shots themselves show very little difference - as the above shot stolen from online - shows. It's a shame really and I assume it has solely to do with frame rates and AA, and hopefully the Digital Foundry will eventually explain reasons once the game launches later this month.

Last Played: Resident Evil 5, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots, AVP Demo
Last Watched: Black Sheep, Dead Alive (The Weta Workshop Double)

Game Of The Post #4: Assassin's Creed 2

Format: Sony Playstation 3
Adventure/Stealth - 3rd Person
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: 2009

What a change a company can make from some good feedback.

I was not entirely convinced Assassin's Creed 2 (Screed 2) would be something worth getting upon release, but in the end I was justified by my selection. I think it helped that another game coming out at the time I picked Screed 2 over was actually horrible and bombed that it made me feel even better about making that decision.

However regardless the game took the parts that made the first title work - exploration with general ease and the ability to kill someone - and wrapped it into a story that was far more compelling than the first, allowed you to skip between areas, allowed you to swim - which was important when one of the areas you're in is Venice - and fixed the pacing which in the original title felt so repetitive you'd really only want to play the game in chunks. Instead sometimes you felt like you wanted to keep going for hours, and numerous people on boards I was at would say they didn't want to put it down frequently unlike the first.

I purchased the collectors set for this. Ubisoft released a regular edition, a white edition with White Cloaked Ezio figure and some small DLC content (most stockists also added in a bag or t-shirt with this version), and the black edition - which I purchased. This came with a Black Cloaked Ezio figure, the DLC content for the white plus more, an artbook and DVD with music and making of material, and a nice detailed packaging.

Unfortunately the game is still quite fresh in my mind (I only completed it in December 09) so at this stage I cant really be very nostalgic about it, so instead I'll return to it later on in a re-run post.

Utter fail...

 

Right now I'd hope to have played (and hopefully be raving) over the multiplayer demo for the upcoming Aliens Vs Predator videogame. It's out on Steam, X-Box Live Marketplace, and the PSN. However it's not the case.

I downloaded the demo yesterday off the PSN for my PS3, and was unfortunately unable to get any connections to any games. Seeing as it was released just an hour or so before then I thought I'd wait a day until more people had it and thus more chance of me playing.

No such luck.

Currently the connection menu has been sitting there for 30 mins trying to find a game. So long in fact my controller powered itself down before hand. Twice.

I gave up.

From what I am hearing and reading around online though is not giving me much hope should I even get to play. The demo is a small map, cut down to 8 players, and the PS3 version in particular is apparently the worst of the lot. There is rumors that the demo is from the build near E3 last year (so several months old) but that makes you wonder why they even bothered to release it, because it's going to do more harm than good.

There is video up on Gametrailers though. At least that's something I can watch.

Game Of The Post #3: Assassin's Creed

Format: Sony Playstation 3
Adventure/Stealth - 3rd Person
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: 2007
 
Assassin's Creed ('Screed') seemed to pop up for most people early when the game was being shown around the new style E3 and other trade shows, but I seemed to miss it. The excitement was over a historic stealth assassin game based on extending out abilities Ubisoft Montreal had done with Prince Of Persia. The final game was anything but.... however, we'll get to that in a second.

My friend Andrew knew more about the game than I did, and had pre-ordered and purchased the collectors edition for X-Box 360, which over here sadly came without the super detailed Altair figure (something fixed by the time "Screed 2" arrived). However once he actually played the game he didn't like it. I saw a few mins of it at his house and thought it was okay, but had no real burning need to play it. In fact the only thing I think I knew before the game came out was due to the fact that Kristen Bell had blabbed about the fact that, unlike what the trailers showed, the game was actually taking place in the future and you were enhabiting the DNA embedded memories of people.

However a few months later, wanting to rent something for a day from a local video shop and with little else to choose from, I picked up the PS3 edition and managed to enjoy a number of hours playing it. So much so, that when I saw a copy on sale for half price (well before it was off being full price - but you can buy it now for about $30NZD in some places) I picked it up.

The game play mechanics seemed to have started at an idea of extending the Prince's acrobatics and instead moving them into something which was a little bit more like Free Running, mixed with crazy wall scaling. Visually and gameplay control wise the game had no issues and showed itself off well. Combat was not as smooth as the Prince's either which was a shame, instead you found yourself taking on a single opponant at a time even when surrounded by a number of enemies.

Played correctly information was gleamed by finishing tasks, and could be reviewed to provide you with a stealthy way in (avoid these guards, this wall is unguarded, the people here move at this time of day, this provides you with a place to leap in and kill your target... etc.), but as most people discovered the game could be played easily if you just went in gung ho and hacked the crap out of your targets with a sword or hit them hard with your assassin blade.

Screed succeeded the best when you did exciting missions like these (and even more so if you did it properly), but sadly these were at times few and far between. Instead repetition would set in on laborious work and it was a game that I found myself enjoying, but if only in short blocks of an hour or two at most. The first bit of the game that I'd played through had a good pace, setting up story and getting you into the flow of the missions and this is why I'd been keen enough to make a purchase, however the pacing slowed not much longer after where I started by the time I brought the game.

Still there were great gems of ideas in place, and the story when it was moving forward, was enough to keep me interested into finishing it to the end. The story did a little of an about face by the end of the game handing out a great deal of mystery and a cliff hanger ending. I still own the original game, but I have no real desire to playthrough it again and had it not dropped in price so quickly I probably would have sold it or traded it in by now. Instead I'll stay on my shelf until such time as I sell a bunch of PS3 titles off.

Instead however it also managed to keep me keen to play a sequel, one that would hopefully keep the good of the original game and improve greatly on everything else... I would not be disappointed....

Funny People - Bonus Post

Just a quick note...

This has been bugging me more as the day goes on. I watched the latest Apatow film Funny People last night... I'd read reviews that the last bit of the film goes a bit off... and (spoiler alert for anyone reading who may want to see it still) thats really an understatement.

There is no resolve. No payoff. No nothing. Sandler's character becomes a little less of a jerk but is still a comedian who makes movies and lots of money. Rogan becomes a little better at being a comedian but still works the same Deli job he did when we met him at the start while trying to break into the scene more. I guess the biggest change is their now friends. But really do I care when nothing else is different?

But that generally could have happened without everything inbetween anyway. Nothing changes. Point of a story is how much change happens by the end, regardless of if it's good or bad by the time the credits roll. Funny People is nothing. No one is really any better or any worse off than where they started from.

It's been eating away at me all day how lazy it all seems. Like he just couldn't come up with a good ending for it all. Shame, because the other films he's written/directed have been good. And it's not like there isn't some good laughs in it. But really, really lame last 3rd capped off by a non-existant ending. Ugh.

Game Of The Post #2: Alien Trilogy

Format: Sony Playstation/Sega Saturn
First Person Shooter
Developer: Probe
Publisher: Acclaim / Fox Interactive
Released: 1996

Alien Trilogy holds a bit of a special space in my heart. Why this is to this day I still do not know. Basically AT is a Doom clone with Aliens in this first person title, especially these days, is about as vanilla as they come. But back in early 1996 when this title was released (and I played it on the Sega Saturn) it was probably one of the best titles around excluding the Atari Jaguar's AVP title.

Each section has a basic goal - exit the level. But they're disguised as "do this and that" tasks to get you through the level. There are numerous weapons, all authentic to the series (my fave is probably the smart gun which, as it's name implies, seems to injure all enemies on screen no matter where your pointing it). The enemies are varied, besides the facehuggers, chest bursters, and aliens there are alien types (human, dog, etc) and infected humans and android types all over the place. You also have mercy kill people cocooned into walls frequently who used to live on the planet. Each section of the game, which I'll get to in a second, also has a large queen attached in a large open space.

The game also has a number of secret areas with extra pickups, access to guns you'd normally find later much earlier on, and the like. The game also ranks you for how much you "completed" (or basically accessed), the amount of enemies you killed from that map, and how much of the secrets you found. To this day there are still a few secrets I've never found and the odd few I've unlocked but have no idea how and have probably only done it once. Very odd system.

By today's standards the cutscenes are fairly poor, but back in the mid 90's they were adequate. The drop ship and corridor sequences riffing off the second Alien film the most and sets up the game well. But this is the main bit of 'Alien Trilogy' that kinda annoyed me. They had to take a bit of liberties with the idea to get the content into it as a movie trilogy rather than just making something different. So you are playing as Ripley. But she's bald. Like in Alien 3. But you start the game as events unfold in Aliens. Then you go through a prison on the planet.... which is supposed to represent Alien 3, which took place elsewhere, and then you visit the ship from Alien with the Space Jockey for the final part.

My other main annoyance is just the setup for getting through. The opening shows Ripley just takes off to save the team, but thats silly because there is no team to save. And unlike the Alien's film where she risks herself to do it, she runs in with a handgun but then the people left behind just order her to do stuff to get more people back in. Are they company men? Trying to get the Aliens? I don't know. Sadly there isn't much of a story... and for the number of times I've finished it I can't even the ending, because I don't think there is one. A proper one anyway. Probably should check really before I say this, but in any case it's not memorable at all.

As another example of how it clearly also sits well in my memory, the PlayStation version at least - which is the one I played the most and owned first - by the fact I can remember the cheat menu password by heart - 1GOTP1NK8C1DBOOTSON.

I unfortunately doubt how much the game is really worth these days, but I own 2 copies, PS1 and Saturn. In fact while searching for a box shot earlier I actually found a full copy of the PC edition on an abandon ware site (sans cutscenes and audio files). One day I'll probably pass them on, the Saturn version probably as a part of a package, the PS1 edition... as it is I guess. But for old times sake I'll probably give them one last shot.