No.1 Gaming Geek

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Hello again everyone. As the exams loom closer, I have decided to post strictly only once a week, during the week ends, unless something really big comes up. Alright. Nothing much really happened this week. I went to my cute friend's house, played a bit of Rock Band in my cousin's house [the drums on expert are f***ing impossible.], blew $30 on my mother's birthday gift, attended tuition's, attended GEPs[yes, I'm one of the few mature people in class who knows right from wrong. So I do not skip GEPs.], went for NCC, did some class tests and of course used my computer. A very normal week. But what appeared on the Internet this week was pretty cool [unlike my life].

Firstly, the final GTA IV trailer appeared. It did nothing but pump half the world up for the game. As expected of a Rockstar product, the trailer was done in style, not revealing too much to spoil the suspense surrounding the game, but not too little to anger the fans. In short, every one's happy, every one's excited. Remember to check the trailer out on the GTA IV widget on my blog, or if you're low class enough, you can check it out on youtube.

Next, the second episode of Dead Fantasy by Monty Oum was released. This is the highly anticipated sequel to the original Dead Fantasy. "Wait, hold on, what the hell is a Dead Fantasy?" you ask. Allow me to explain. It's a fan made series which focuses one the on going fight between two giant gaming factions, Final Fantasy and Dead or Alive. And because it's made by Japs, it only focus on the women from both factions. That's not the only reason to watch it. The fight choreography is top notch in this series[unlike the graphics, but that's ok], enough to make cutscenes in the Devil May Cry series look stupid. Monty Oum has also created other series like Haloid, with two main characters Spartan 458 [Nicole from DOA series] and Samus Aran from the Metriod Prime series against the entire Covenant army. And the stuff never gets old. I have watched each episode at least 3 times and I still go WOW at every OMG-inducing moment. It's only available exclusively at gametrailers.com and of course the Monty Oum home page. Once again, if you're LC enough, just head to youtube.

Finally, I discovered the Zero Punctuation series. This is definitely not one to share with the family. Yathzee, who's an Australian based writer, voices for the series, which focus on reviewing games. The videos themselves have no much actual footage, just Yathzee's voice and stick figures against a coloured background representing the game's main character[s]. But why is it so fun to watch? Because Yathzee is totally brutal in his reviews. Vulgarities in his reviews are as common as foreign workers in Singapore. He will drop F bombs when ever he likes. The closest he every gets to saying a game is awesome is like "It's actually not bad". Fans of the Angry Video Game Nerd series will feel right at home watching these videos. Check it out on Zero Punctuation's home page or [eww] youtube.

Alright another post is almost done. Before I go, I've got something to tell you. Since my birthday month is approaching, I'll be back tomorrow for my annual "Top 10 Birthday Gifts I'd Like" post. Ok people, see you tomorrow.

posted @ 3:51 AM
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Sunday, March 23, 2008

10 things to do when you get GTA IV [part 2]

4. Set stuff on fire
The little pyromaniac in all of us will love the amazing new flame and explosion effects in GTAIV. Cause enough damage to a car and it'll burst into flames. Initially you'll just see a few flames licking up out of the bonnet and around the tires, but the flames will spread quickly and it's often possible to see the unfortunate occupants jump out of the car and flail around as they desperately try to put out the fire engulfing them.

It is possible for several cars to catch fire, eventually exploding in showers of flames and carparts, with huge plumes of smoke rising from the wreck. Best. Explosions. Ever.

Oh, and in case you weren't already buzzing from the sound of that you should be impressed to hear Niko was. Notice the attention to detail as after the explosions had gone off you will hear the game making that post-explosion ringing sound you'll really hope you never get to hear in real life.

3. Nail the new drive-bys
If there's one thing Saints Row got right it was the whole '360 aiming while driving' mechanic and you'll be happy to see a modified version of it appear in GTA IV. So long as you've got either a pistol, an Uzi or some grenades you can hit LB while driving to smash the window with your elbow and aim weapons through it. Just like previous GTA games you can control the camera with the right stick, while steering with the left, allowing you to aim your guns at enemies in any direction.

The best thing about this new aiming technique is that you can catch up to and gun down running enemies much easier now that you don't have to line the side of your car right up beside them. You'll be capping some running enemies pretty easily on your first attempt but you'll probably tagg a random person with our pistol by accident. But don't expect him to just let you go. He'll pull out an Uzi and opened fire on our car. Damn GTA and its frustrating (but totally awesome) unexpected AI outbursts.

Naturally you'd turned this random thug's intervention to your advantage by ploughing our car into him, getting out and grabbing his Uzi, then using it to cut through the remaining enemies you were chasing.

2. Cooking grenades
As well as the traditional Uzi and pistol drive-bys it's now possible to throw grenades out the window to make a mess of any vehicles on your tail. By glancing behind you while driving (clicking the right stick in) you can judge how long you need to cook the grenade so that it will explode right under the cars trailing you. Taking out enemy vehicles with a single well-timed grenade toss feels great and looks absolutely spectacular thanks to those sexy new flame effects.

1. Go nuts with a rocket launcher
Messing about with a rocket launcher was already pretty great in the previous GTAs but it just feels so right now. Squeeze the trigger and a rocket will tear through the sky, leaving behind it those insanely cool spiralling trails of smoke, before it slams into your target (probably a car) causing unprecedented destruction as panels, doors and tyres explode violently in all directions. Did I mention you can also blindfire rockets? Bet you'd want one now.

Closing Comments
Rather than focusing on a list of new bullet point features Rockstar has introduced GTAIV by giving us a series of progressively longer and more detailed visits to Liberty City. Each time you return you'll discover how the new elements like Euphoria animation have far broader implications than you would have originally realised.

GTAIV has strengthened and deepened the believability of its world far beyond any of its competitors and in doing so has revitalised the landmark series. Instead of using next-gen tech for purely cosmetic changes Rockstar has used its tech to amp up the realism of all aspects and in doing so has created an experience that just feels right.

posted @ 3:59 AM
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Saturday, March 22, 2008

10 things to do when you get GTA IV [Part 1]

10. Pick a fight
GTAIV's melee system has been completely remade to give it a more realistic feel. Once you've locked-on to an enemy you can choose between kicks, heavy and light punches and blocks. The three attacks can be strung together effectively but for the really devastating combos you'll want to tap the block button just before your opponent attacks, enabling you to dodge, then counterattack. Two ducking gut punches followed by a spinning snap-kick to the head was the first vicious counterattack we tried but our favourite had to be a horribly painful looking kick in the testicles, then a nose-shattering headbutt to finish the job. Kicking, and punching enemies while they're on the ground is both possible and effective. The meaty sound effects, the brutal attacks and the completely believable animations just felt right (get used to hearing that about GTA IV).

9. Steal someone's car
As you'd expect in a Grand Theft Auto game, pinching cars plays a large part in getting around Liberty City. You now need to elbow open windows (of locked cars) and wait for the more stubborn engines to start (which both add a whole new layer of added tension and excitement when being chased by cops).

Why not take your car thievery up a notch by adding a shotgun. See a car that interests you, but it's already occupied? Then shoot the driver through the windscreen. While this technique was possible in previous GTA games, the level of cinematic style and shocking intensity GTA IV delivers is absolutely unprecedented.

Squeezing off a shotgun round at the driver caused blood to splatter across the inside of the windscreen (which was now riddled with tiny bullet holes) as the driver's body was knocked violently back in his seat before slumping forward with his head resting on the steering wheel, causing the car's horn to constantly blare away. The intensity and detail witnessed in this split-second of gameplay would leave most gamers a little guilty about whacking the poor guy - at least you will put his car to good use. He would have wanted that.

8. Start World War III
In one mission you will need to intercept a shipment of drugs at a harbourside factory – the only catch is that the shipment was being protected by 30 or so crims armed with fully automatic weapons. With a pistol, a shotgun and an Uzi tucked under your jacket you head in. You shoot one guy and everyone else opens fire on you.

There are new controls for the shooting mechanics in GTA IV. Tapping RB near any cover will see Niko slide against it, automatically ducking if it's not full-length cover. From here Niko can safely move around behind the cover or commando roll over to other nearby cover. Niko has two options when shooting from behind cover; he can quickly pop up and lock-on to enemies or he can also shoot from safety by blindfiring (an option that seems far more effective than the similar techniques in Gears of War or Uncharted).When locked-on to enemies the true sharpshooters can even aim at specific body parts by slightly moving the right analogue stick (whereas moving the stick sharply flicks your aim to the next target).

7. Lose the cops
Few people are likely to miss the constantly teleporting, omnipotent police force encountered in previous GTA games. In GTA IV the police behave realistically, needing to keep you in their line of sight to pursue you effectively. When you break this line of sight and manage to change cars before you're spotted again you can drive off in relative safety because the police will continue to search around your last known location. Although the police are constrained by more realistic rules it's still very hard to shake the cops, especially on any of the higher wanted levels. This is due to the police being generally far better drivers in GTAIV and because of the more realistic (read 'lengthy') car stealing aspects.

6.Witness Euphoria
No I'm not talking about Niko watching his buddies getting high. Euphoria is the name of the advanced new animation engine featured in GTA IV. It's a simulation-based animation system that ensures that no matter what happens to a character (whether they're being shot in the foot, bowled over by a car or kicked in the nuts) they'll react realistically.

Because it's simulation-based (rather than scripted) this means no two actions will ever be exactly the same. Driving down the sidewalk will see pedestrians cartwheeling over the bonnet, being knocked sideways to slide along the road or diving out of the way in endless new and hilarious ways. Euphoria also makes shootouts far more believable.

Cap someone in the leg, for example, and you'll see their limb flung back as their body loses balance and topples over. Shoot them in the face and their head will snap back with great force, before their body crumples lifelessly to the ground. Euphoria makes all of the typical GTA sandbox-style antics you're used to seem fresh again.

5. Play bumper cars in traffic
GTA IV's cars have been tuned up to deliver a much more weighty experience this time around. As you're sliding around corners you'll see the car's suspension reflecting the centre of balance shifting through the turn. Unless you're an absolutely god-like virtual driver, you'll invariably slam the side of your car explosively into passing buildings as you fight to control the slide.

When collisions like this happen sparks will fly out, windows will shatter and you'll even be able to see Niko (and any other passengers' bodies) being flung around inside like a ragdoll. If you happen to hurtle into an oncoming car fast enough it's even possible to launch Niko out of the windscreen and onto the road. Looks like that's checkmate for the Flatout series.

Remember to check back tomorrow for the final four!!

posted @ 5:01 AM
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Friday, March 21, 2008

Hello people. I'm really sorry for not posting for quite a while, but I really don't have the time during the weekdays because I have all the GEPs, CCA trainings, tuitions and make up lessons after school. Most days I'll only be home like 6pm. And I've still gotta do my revision and homework. Stressful life. Anyways, I don't really have time for much today so I'll just put up the official Grand Theft Auto IV widget here and the GTAIV in game radio stations widget. You'll be surprised at how creative the radio channels get. Check it out for all news, info, images and videos of Grand Theft Auto IV. The game is released worldwide on April 29th and if everything goes well, it will not be banned in Singapore, a first for the series. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed. If not, it's off to the import shop for me and every other self respecting gamer in Singapore.

posted @ 9:01 PM
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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Hello once again everyone. How's everything going? Holidays are almost coming to an end...only left with tomorrow. I don't mind going back to school but I really hate having to sleep and wake up so early. I wanted to take a break from my holiday stuff and instead, made this up just for fun. If you played Assassin's Creed yourself, you would understand what I'm doing, if not just ignore it. Today I completed assassin's creed.

After completing Assassin's Creed, I feel that I still have not gotten my fill of the way of the assassin, so I went to the nearest Assassin's Bureau [the entrance was located at the roof of Tiong Bahru Plaza] and enrolled to become a master of the blade. They asked me to put my left hand onto a table and then proceeded to chop my ring finger off. [It hurt, but all assassins have to do that. I dunno why though.] Then they gave me this hidden blade which was really quite cool[I could extend and retract it whenever I wanted]. And they also gave me these robes and told me to put them on. I felt that they was really impractical because it was really warm and Singapore's temperature doesn't really help.

Then they gave me a horse and told me to ride to Masayf. At first I didn't really know how to get there but as soon as I rode to the traffic light outside Tiong Bahru Plaza, a screen popped up and asked me where I would like to go. I selected Masayf and all of a sudden, I wasn't on my horse anymore. Instead, I was in this weird ass place that was seriously freaking me out. There were these glitches all over the place and to make things worse there was this creepy computer woman giving me tips. I just ran around for a while, thinking "Why the heck does this thing take so long to load" and then I was back on my horse again, outside the gates of Masyaf. Whoa. I was suffering from some serious jet lag but I still made my way to the assassin's stronghold. When I entered, I met Altair, the master Assassin, and the new leader of the assassin's. I heard that the old leader was this old fart called Al something who was always speaking in riddles and he turned out to be a fraud and when he went bad on everyone, Altair totally f***ed him up, and thus, Altair became the new leader.

Altair was really cool because he talked with an American accent unlike everyone else in this weird place. They all spoke like the people we know as TERRORISTS in the modern day. So Altair briefed me on the test I was about to take. I would have to pass the test to become an assassin, obviously. The test consisted of 6 stages.

Stage 1: Scale a building.

Altair followed me back to the real world. He also gave me this wicked sword which I could do counter kills with. He said he would pick the district I would be climbing a building in. In his world, he had 3 districts in each town, the rich, the middle and the poor district. I explained to him that we had 3 districts in the real world too, namely the shopping district, the Central Business district and the red light district. Altair chose the Central Business District. So we took the MRT to City Hall. Altair was really worried when he saw the police guards patrolling Raffles Place station, but I told him they wouldn't bother us if we didn't bother them. So we got off at City Hall and he picked the building for me to climb: The Westin Stamford hotel. The tallest building in Singapore. He said he would be following me. As I did not have the grab skill like him, I fell like 50 times. Good thing I had unlimited respwans. Finally we got up and Altair told me I passed the first stage. As a reward, I gained the grab skill. I felt like punching him because he should have given me it before we did this, but he was my master, and I had to obey him.

Stage 2: Leap of faith.

Altair told be I had to leap off the building and survive. I was like "Are you shitting me?" He stared at me for a while and said in that stupid calm voice "NO. Try to land in that fountain down there. Go my child, leap into the hands of faith." "More like the hands of suicide" I mumbled to myself. I jumped off and bam. Respwan. In the end I did it, but I landed on the canvas and miraculously, it didn't tear. Altair said he could count that as a pass. I got throwing knives as a reward.

Stage 3: Blade in the crowd.

Altair told me that I had to assassinate a policemen without alerting others. He advised me that I should use blend to avoid being seen. We went to Toa Payoh central for this. I saw two policemen out for lunch and slowly crept up behind him. Then I used my hidden blade to ass rape him. Then I immediately blended. The police men took out his gun and pointed it at me. "What are you doing? Can't you see my hands? I'm praying, you dumbass, I'm not an assassin now" I yelled at him. The police man stared at me and then shot me in the leg. Altair rescued me somehow, but I failed this stage as a result. I was really starting to feel that Altair was just messing around with me.

Stage 4: Perform 3 counter kills

We went to Bishan neighbourhood police post and Altair killed a policeman, before running away. Policemen poured out of the police station. I locked on to one of them and instantly drew out my sword. I was waiting for one of them to attack me before countering, but unfortunately, unlike the foes in Altair's world, the policemen did not attack one by one, instead they all pounded on me with their batons. At the same time. When they were done, I was so screwed I thought Altair was my girlfriend and I tried to kiss him. He failed me. The dickhead killed the cop and I got bashed.

Stage 5: Blend with the crowd

I just had to gentle push everyone out of the way. Simple. Somehow that was considered socially acceptable. Of all places to do this, that idiot Altair chose Orchard Road. The first person I gentle pushed was this punk. He immediately whipped around and told me to "step the f*** off man." I blended and backed off. I continued gentle pushing my way through the crowd, ignoring the insults and hand gestures of the people who I touched. Then, when I almost completed this stage, this beggar woman walked up to me and said "Please sir, can I have some coins" again and again. I told her no and she said "You don't understand sir, I haven't got any money" I said "Yea, isn't that why you're asking me for it?" She looked stupidly at me for a moment, then started her begging again. She wasn't very smart. She kept following me and her voice kept ringing inside my head. I just wanted to give her some cash so that she would get lost, but guess what, I couldn't. In the end I got so frustrated that I high profile assassinated her and got those f***ing policemen on my ass again. I failed this stage too.

Stage 6: Assassinate an important person

That bitch Altair tricked me into this one. He asked me casually "Who is equal to the king in this city?" "The president, I guess" I replied. So he asked me to assassinate the President. It was impossible. I never got past the front gate of the Istana, so I failed this.

Altair said that I failed the test so I had to return them back everything. I asked him if he could give me back my finger in exchange. He looked dumbfounded for a while, then he said that he didn't know where my finger was, so I could keep the clothes and weapons. Then he turned to leave and I wanted to say goodbye, so I put my hand on his back and he immediately used "grab break" on me, twisting my arm so that I would back face him, then he kicked my ass and I fell forward. When I looked up, he was gone. What a master assassin. No wonder the chicks don't hit on him.

Being an assassin may be badass, but it really isn't that fun. We should just wait patiently for Assassin's Creed 2: Assassinate Harder. It sure beats taking a bullet to the leg.

posted @ 4:45 PM
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Friday, March 14, 2008

Hello once again everyone. Today seems like a pretty nice day huh? The temperature's just right, and it doesn't look like it's gonna rain. Since I've already finished all my holiday homework, all I did today was play Assassin's Creed. I'm almost done with it. Today I'm gonna write about the 3rd day of my trip to Australia.

Day 3
Today was like the most busy day in our entire trip. We woke up early, like 7am, took our breakfast and then we headed out. Our first stop was DFO, or Direct Factory Outlet. I think the name is pretty self explanatory, but in case you don't get it, it's a mall which sell products direct from the factories, meaning they are cheaper. It's not really that much of a difference actually, just like AU$5 difference from other places. And the only thing sold there is woman clothes. About 10% men's clothes and shoes, the other 90% women's clothes. At prices that are still quite high. That's why I didn't really enjoy myself there. We did not buy anything. However, DFO is located above Melbourne's central train depot, which is really huge and impressive.

Direct Factory Outlet. Clothes, clothes and more clothes

Melbourne's central train depot

After that we got back into the bus, and we headed out of the city. We were going to Phillips Island on that day, which houses the world renown Penguin Island attraction. Along the way, we would be stopping at several different places. Our first stop was Warrock Farm. We would be having our lunch there and then we would take a tractor ride around the farm to see the various animals. The farm was freakin huge. 260 hectares of land. Wow. We had lunch in a farm house. I had chicken because I cannot eat beef and those were the only two choices they had. The chicken was really good, like the Kenny Rogers chicken, and the mash potato was yum too. Only bad stuff was the veggies. The carrots tasted way too sweet and the peas were like mush. Made me wanna hurl after eating all of them up. Anyways. Once we were done, we got on our tractor[it's actually just a pick up truck pulling a huge carriage]. We stopped and they showed us their sheep dogs herding sheeps. The dogs were really smart. They worked together to herd the sheep. Then they sheared a sheep for us to see. Poor sheep. Pretty interesting actually. Then we fed some lambs and finally milked a cow. In the cow shed I met this freaky sheep/lamb/horse thing [i dunno what the hell it was] that was really attracted to me for some reason. Awesome. Before we left Warrock farm, we went to feed some ducks, Koalas, Wombats and Kangaroo. Kangaroos are damn cool creatures. Nice to touch them.

Lunch. Really delicious lunch. [And yours truly is finally in a photo!!]

In the carriage
Why are the sheep so dumb. So many of them and only two dogs...just all tau pok the dogs and run right?

Raping the sheep

Wth even the kangaroo also wanna dao me.

After that we went to a wine brewery. Only people ages 18 and up could drink the good stuff, so I didn't do anything here. After that we just stopped at some random souvenir shop for a break, then we proceeded to the bridge linking Melbourne to Phillips Island. We were going to have our dinner there. It was chinese food again, but this time it was AWESOME. After that we just sat around in the small park outside. I really loved that place. The cool wind blowing and the sound of the waves crashing [also the chirping of seagulls] made it really relaxing. After that we went to the Penguin Island attraction. No photography was allowed, so thers's no pics of that. It's really quite boring la. The small penguins come out of the sea, they anything move, then run back. They repeat this like 10 times before gathering enough courage to march across the beach and into the burrows. By the time that was over, it ws 10.30pm and everyone was really exhausted. By the time we reached our hotel it was nearly 12 midnight. When I touched my bed I almost immediately fell asleep. Very tired. End of day 3.

My family. The bridge in the background links Melbourne to Phillips Island.

My brother going all Stranghold.[For those of you who don't know what I mean, search "Stranglehold Spin Attack" on youtube]

I guess that's about all for this post. Tomorrow I'll be back with Day 4 and Day 5. And some movie stuff if I have the time. See you.

posted @ 2:25 PM
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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Hey everyone how're you doing today. Pretty good day huh, didn't rain. Yet. Anyways, I know I'm not gonna do anything today except study and you know, play Xbox, so I decided to write on something that happened last year end, my trip to Melbourne and Gold Coast in Australia. One AWESOME trip. So much better than my last good trip, which was to Bangkok. All I saw there were trannys [or is that trannies?]. Anyways. Let's begin.

Day 1

Took a LIMO taxi to Changi International Airport at 7pm. When we got there, it was crowded as heck. The usual. Then we got up with our tour group and we got our tickets. Then we boarded the plane. SQ flight, OK? Watched a whole lotta movies like Transformers and Shoot Em Up [Oh the latter's freakin hilarious]. That's it, Day 1. Scam our cash.

My family. Don't mess with the one on the extreme left.

Day 2

We reached Melbourne!! We gathered up with our tour group and we went out of the airport. The weather's freakin awesome man. Like air con outside. Loving it. So me got on our coach. The driver's name is like some Italian name, so our tour guide say we can just call him Mi Lao Shu [that's Chinese for Mickey Mouse]. Alright man, whatever. He's a really friendly guy. In the bus, I took the time to get to know the rest of the kids in our tour group. Most of them were around me age. Cool people. There was this person who's like in JC and i thought he was a guy and it turned out SHE was a girl. Whoa. Then there was this girl who I thought was hot but now I'm ignoring her. Cuz I got you know who. Alright. Before we checked in our hotel, we went on a city tour. Melbourne is a freakin awesome city I really wouldn't mind living there. Like so care free. The trip from the airport to the city area was quite long, about an hour. We were going for a city tour before checking in to our hotel.

Then we reached our first stop, Queen Victoria Market. At first I was really reluctant to go in because it was really crowded and I am pretty claustrophobic, but since the rest of my family went in, I had no choice. It's a pretty cool place actually. It's like an outdoor bazaar. Every thing's really cheap, so we bought a whole lotta food and some clothes. I also bought an Aboriginal instrument called a Digeridoo. Really wierd name huh? It just looks like a huge wooden condom. There was also a lot of food stalls. There was this one shop selling the most awesome doughnuts ever. You've never eaten doughnut before until you've tried this. Then we had our lunch in this cosy little foodcourt and after that we went to our next stop. On our way back to the coach I realized that there were a few camels in QV market, but i dunno why they were there.

God Like Doughnuts

Lunch

Next stop was this palace. I don't really know why it was there, or who it belonged to, but it was really magestic. It was a really short stop, just to take some pictures.

My future garage

After that we went to this really huge and grand looking curch. Next we went to a park which was like 3 times the size of the Botanical Gardens, and finally to a really huge war memorial. By now most of us were really tired, so we all went back to the hotel. Pretty nice place. Only thing is that there's no pool at all, cuz it's located right in the middle of the shopping zone of the city. That and the toilet had no locks what so ever. After about 3 hours of rest, we met up with the tour group again and this time we went to the Chinatown area of Melbourne for our dinner. It was chinese food, but it wasn't really that nice. Since my brother and I did not eat much and were still hungry after that, we decided to walk back to our hotel and grab something on the way back. I really enjoyed the atmosphere when we were walking back. In Melbourne, it only gets dark at about 9pm, so the sky was still as bright as the afternoon sky at about 7.30pm, and many people were still on the streets. There was so much to see. Street vendors with all kinds of wierd foods and goods, horse carraige rides and there was even this giant chess board painted on the ground outside a shopping mall. Giant chess pieces surrounded the "board". A guy with a mohawk [really HUGE one] was playing against a kid and he was getting owned. The kid was really skilled. Finally, we got back to our hotel room and we watched some TV before going to bed.

Church

The park. The house in the background used to belong to Captain Cook, the famous pirate.

HUGE war memorial

The skyline of Melbourne. I took this from the roof of the war memorial

Hotel room

Chinatown

The street along our hotel. The centre of the road is used by trams

Ok, that's the first two days. I'll post the next two tomorrow. See you everyone.

posted @ 7:00 PM
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Hi everyone. As promised, this is my review of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and some other random stuff. Alright, let's begin. Everyone remembers Lego right? Those little coloured blocks we used to play with when we were all kids? And everyone has probably watch at least one, if not all of the Star Wars movies right? So let's do a little game math[ugh,math] : Lego + Star Wars = Lego Star Wars! Amazing. There's just something about the LEGO Star Wars series that works. With the first game, released in 2005 for the Xbox, PS2, GameCube and PC, developer Traveller's Tales took two great brands, smashed them together and created something instantly familiar yet refreshingly new.

LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars II were both successful ventures -- a rare combination of kid-friendly gameplay that also grabbed the hearts and minds of gamers with more mature tastes. That's why I was excited to get my hands on the latest member of Traveller's Tales' blocky little family: LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which pulls LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars II together in one cohesive package.

Lego Star Wars combines the story of Star Wars with charismatic characters, some of them even more likable then the Star Wars actors they are based on, and crude humour, and it does a damn good job at that.

"What the f*** were those two Ewoks doing?"

What I like about the game:

The number of characters. Almost all characters make an appearance in the game. And players are not only limited to using main characters in the game. Of course, everyone would expect to be able to play as Luke or Anakin Skywalker, but who'd expect to be able to play as a random Stormtrooper, or even cooler, someone who's not even part of the Star Wars universe, like Indiana Jones.

The humour. While the characters in the game do not have voices [there's zero dialog in the game] , the humour is still present. In my opinion, it was a good move to ditch the dialog and focus on the body movements of the characters. In one scene, Obi Wan and Anakin face of against Darth Maul. Both flip towards the villain and flick on their lightsabres. Obi's lightsabre instantly comes to life while Anakin's does not. However, Anakin fixes his weapon by shaking it a few times.

Co Operative play. Online or offline available. You know what they say, two heads are better than one. With a friend helping you out, you solve puzzles in half the time, earn twice as many points, and you'll complete stages in half the time. Adds a whole new level of fun to the game

What I do not like about the game:
Unnecessary puzzles. Alright I can forgive Traveller's Tales if there were just one or two puzzles per level...but like 10 of them per level. Now that's just unforgivable. It doesn't help that some of them seem impossible at first.

Those freakin studs. In LSW, you will collect studs from everything you kill. While you have unlimited respawns when you die, you lose studs in exchange. Less studs=less characters and vehicles you can buy. I find it totally unnecessary.

The camera. It's really quite crappy. Done

Going into battle

Conclusion
Presentation 8/10
Whether you're a fan of Yoda or Darth Vader, your favorite characters are all here, and Traveller's Tales really brings them to life, at times with more charisma than their real life counterparts.

Graphics 6/10
Not really impressive here. It's alright, but this definitely is not Gears of War. In fact it's not even Dead or Alive. But still, these are the most high def Legos you have ever seen.

Sound 8/10
When you're listening to the original John Williams soundtrack and hearing the hum of your lightsaber or blaster, you might just forget you're in Legoland.

Gameplay 7.5/10
Camera controls are lacking, and you can get dizzy from circling back to collect those freakin studs, but overall the game is easy to control and fun to play with very few lulls or bad levels.

Lasting Appeal 8/10
The Complete Saga's story mode, free play, arcade and multiplayer options will keep you coming back for more...unless you've already gone there twice before.

Overall: 7.5/10 ~Pretty damn good~

Closing Comments
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga doesn't really push the series into better territories. At its best, the game is a well-polished collection of a pair of quickly-ageing gems. At its worst, it feels a tad stagnant, and I hope TT's upcoming LEGO-based games, LEGO Batman and LEGO Indiana Jones take the idea in a fresh direction. And it will also be good if Bungie's Lego Halo follows suite. So aside from the camera controls, not-so-snappy studs and some problems with pacing in a handful of places, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a solid game, and one of the rare titles on Xbox 360 and PS3 that the family can safely sit down together to play. If you've waited until now to try Lego Star Wars, this is definitely the game to buy. If you've already visited this far-away snap-together galaxy, you've probably seen it all before.

Alright that's about it. Today was a pretty awesome day. Spent about 3 hours studying, then I was playing Assassin's Creed and Team Fortress 2 for the rest of the day. Then I had maths tuition. The other guy never come cuz he went to India, so it was just me and my cute friend. Awesome. I think I did the right thing. Even she said she was proud of me!! I am so happy. Just wait...a little while longer and everything will be alright. If you wanna know exactly what happened, you're gonna have to ask me, cuz I'm not gonna put stuff like that on this blog since everyone in the world can read it. Privacy. I'm almost ending off cuz this holidays I don't really do much except study, so I don't really have much to talk about. Before I go, I know my blogs in a pretty crappy state now, with no tagboard and all, but give me time, cuz i just started doing this blog. Thanks. Alright, I guess that's all everybody, see you.

posted @ 9:40 PM
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Hello everyone. It's a brand new year, and I'm gonna start a brand new blog. I think I'm much more mature now, so this blog won't be full of dumb comments like "[Insert] sucks". Don't worry, I didn't say those comments will be completely gone, they'll just be less common. Also, I shall not talk about other girls, no matter how chio, in this blog, cuz I'm gonna be commited to my cute friend. Now that that's settled, time for the more important stuff. This blog was created due to my love of gaming. And do not be fooled by the address of the blog, I will review games based on how I felt when playing them. I'm not gonna say a suck game rocks just because it's an Xbox 360 exclusive. Also, I won't only post videogame related stuff in this blog, I'll also post normal stuff, like school, movies, music and my love life[yes, I actually have a love like. Meaning I'm not a geek.] Finally, the posts in this blog will not be as long as those in my other blog, so perhaps I'll be able to post every day. I'll only review those games I bought this year. I promise only one review a week at most, so the rest will be normal stuff. I'll post the first review tomorrow, on the first game I bought this year, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Do not be fooled into thinking that it's a kiddy game just because of the name, cuz the force is really pretty strong with this one. See you tomorrow, everyone.

posted @ 8:15 PM
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