Thursday, September 17, 2009
Ever had one of those days where you wake up not expecting much to happen, but a whole lot of stuff actually happens in the end? Well, I just had one of those days.I got a woke up at 9am today, which is super early for me, and by 10am I was out of my house and on the way to Marina Square. Today marked the release of the Japanese movie 'Crows0 II', which is based of the manga series of the same name.
I was going to watch it with Syafiqah, who couldn't wait to watch it because 1) it was a Japanese movie, and 2) it was a Japanese movie with a lot of Japanese men in it. I was goingearly to ensure that we got tickets. Of course, at that time of the day I was still expecting several other people to turn up for the movie.
Once I reached Marina Square, it turned out that not everyone who we asked had been able to confirm whether or not they were interested in watching the movie. So I ended up having to wait a while.
I went to Burger King and got breakfast. I actually like having breakfast at a fast food restaurant, but the place has to be mostly empty. It has been really long since I just took my time with eating breakfast. After that I went on msn using my laptop. I talked to several people online.
After sitting there for close to two hours, I decided to leave Burger King since the lunch time crowd was starting to appear. I called Syafiqah and we decided to get two tickets, since we weren't getting replies from the others.
So I got the tickets. The seats were second from the back, and in the middle. Good seats. But I didn't like the fact that they cost $8.50. Are poly students applicable for student prices, or do we have to add movie tickets to the ever growing list of things we have to pay adult prices for?
Nonetheless, I was happy that I managed to secure us our tickets. Now I just had to find something else to do for the remaining two hours before Syafiqah arrived.
Since I had already been walking around Marina Square for the past hour and a half, and also since I have been there way too many times, I decided to walk to some place else.
So, there was Suntec, Raffles City, Central, Peninsular, Funan and the Esplanade. I'm a gamer above everything else, so which do you think I picked?
Once I got inside Funan, I began walking from store to store, checking if they sold games, and if they did, at what prices. Right now, the only game out that I want is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. After comparing the prices today, the most expensive it's being sold for is $89, while the cheapest is $75.
I'll probably be getting the game next Tuesday, when Halo 3: ODST is out. I need to head down to Junction 8 to collect my copy of OSDT, and I also need to collect my phone. Since Junction 8 has possibly the best game store in the entire island, in terms of prices, I'll be getting Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 there.
Funan is a cool place and all, but there are only so many shops to check out before you realise you've actually swept through the entire mall. And anyways, I was beginning to feel a stomach ache.
I don't like Funan or Marina Square toilets, and I was thinking that the toilets in Peninsular would be even more screwed up. Then I remembered that nice, big, clean toilet at Suntec Convention Hall.
So I started making my way there. At first everything seemed normal. It was lunch time, so the sight of hordes of office people walking around wasn't anything unusual. But I did notice other people, people in civilian clothing, taking the escalators up. So I followed them.
The toilet I was headed to was located on the six floor, so I would have had to take the escalator anyways.
Once I got to the second floor, this huge yellow sign board caught my attention. 'Game Convention Asia 2009 17th-20th September' it announced. I checked the date on my phone, and it really was the 17th.
I was super excited at that point. I mean, I knew GCA was this month, but what I didn't know was that it started today. How lucky is that? Just because of the urge to use the toilet, and just because I was took picky to use any toilet except that one, I stumbled upon the freakin GCA.
For those of you who don't know. GCA is an event that showcases tons of games due for release in the upcoming months, and attendees get to be among the first in Singapore to get their hands on these games. There's also tons of freebies to collect, booth babes to check out, and attractive offers to enjoy.
However, while GCA does have a public segment, it is mostly a behind the scenes event which main purpose is to house the annual D.I.C.E conference, which is a conference for game developers to meet and discuss the future of the game industry.
Of course, those lucky bastards who make up the local game media get closed door previews of games, and these previews may or may not eventually be released to the public.
This is probably the closest we will ever get to experiencing the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) locally, so I couldn't let the chance slip. With all thought of using the toilet suddenly evaporating, I headed to the entrance.
All members of the public had to sign in with their name, IC and email, possibly for the lucky draw, and also so that if you break the embargo of the games, and post footage online, they will be able to pin point just who to send that lawsuit flying at.
Once you sign in, you get this cool sticker that has to be on you at all times while within the exhibition hall. Also, if you're wondering, entry is free of charge. Yes, you're interested in going now, aren't you?
Here's the best way to describe how I felt when I first stepped inside the hall. Think of your favourite things. Be it clothes, jewellery, sports equipment, girls, just as long as you pinpoint the one you like the most.
Now, imagine a massive exhibition hall, filled with various booths housing nothing but that favourite thing of yours. And if that isn't exciting enough, most of the things being showcased there aren't on sale yet. Also, the sole purpose of that exhibition is for you to try all those things out.
So yes, that's how it felt. I was fighting back the urge to go crazy and run from test console to test console, trying everything I could get my hands onto. But I willed myself to practice self restraint.
Fortunately for me, it was about 1pm on a Thursday when I was there, meaning that there weren't much school kids, as well as working adults. So majority of the test consoles were free of queues. In fact many of them didn't even have anyone playing the games they contained.
The first game I got to test out was Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Like I mentioned earlier, the game already has been out for several days, but I still haven't bought it yet so I decided to try it out.
The portion which I played took place in some underground lab area. I later found out that the lab belonged to the Tinkerer. The team I used was already pre-set, and it consisted of Storm, Gambit, the Human Torch, and the Invisible Woman.
To be honest, I don't really have that much to say about the game. It's pretty much the same as the first game. Graphics are definitely prettier, and yes, the Fusion moves are both fun to use and impressive to see, but everything else is almost identical.
Next game I played was Halo 3: ODST. As you can expect, there were a little more people waiting around the ODST test consoles, despite the fact that there were six of them to test the game on.
So when it was finally my turn, the first thing I did was marvel at the graphics. The Halo series never put that big a emphasis on graphics, but damn, ODST is one pretty looking game.
The night sky, the looming skyscrapers, the flashing lighting, the gentle drizzle; everything on screen compliment each other, and the overall effect is a sight to behold.
Then I clicked on the visor mode. Wow. Every tiny detail on screen gets highlighted by a yellow outline with a faint glow. Things that you probably would never have noticed before instantly become obvious, and the whole city suddenly seemed alive.
Alright so Bungie did a remarkable job with the graphics. Next thing I wanted to check out was game play. But I didn't know what to do. I was in a huge city, with no radar like in prior Halo games, and to make matters worse, there seemed to be a possible route every where I turned.
For the first time in a Halo game, I was lost.
So I started walking towards the nearest path when a hint popped up on screen. Turns out there's a map in the game after all, and it's displayed on your heads up display. There were three possible areas to head to, so I went to the one nearest to me.
Along the way, I ran into a squad of Covenant. Several Grunts and a Brute. Of course, I saw them long before they saw me. Visor mode is definitely one of the best new additions.
Having a chance to test the new weapons, and threw a grenade into the fray, and fired at the enemy with my silenced SMG. The difference is instantly noticeable. The gun sounds softer, and the vibrations on the controller were much more subtle.
I tried rushing head on at the Brute, which was a mistake. ODST aren't Spartans, so they do not have energy shields. After being hit once by its Brute Shot, I was close to death. I backed away and waited for my health to regenerate, and then I switched to my other weapon, the pistol.
I am in love. Remember that beast in the first Halo game? The pistol that killed anyone with two shots to the head? It's back. Well, maybe it isn't that overpowered, but it feels powerful, and three slugs to the head were enough to put the Brute down.
Along the way I ran into another Covenant patrol, which I decided to avoid. When I reached my checkpoint, my visor highlighted an object lying on the floor. I went towards it and interacted with it.
After a brief loading screen, and a short cutscene, I no longer playing as the same character. Also, it was a different time of day, as the sky was now orange instead of maroon. Multiple arrows appeared on my HUD, pointing my to my objectives.
I was just thrown into the flashback, and I didn't really know what was happening. All I knew was that there were tons of enemies at the other end of the bridge, my people were on this side, and I had to blow the bridge up.
So I followed the arrows towards several of the bridge's support beams. There were already explosives placed on them, so I followed the onscreen prompt to arm the explosives. And then I followed the final arrow to a watch tower, triggered the explosives, and watch the spectacular explosion that followed.
While ODST was not my favourite game at GCA, I am certainly liking what Bungie did to it. The Halo formula was getting stale, so they changed it, but still managed to ensure that it still was a Halo game. Looking forward to that next week.
The next game I played was Borderlands. Oh man I am so tempted now to just say that it's Fallout 3 with cartoony graphics, but I am not going to.
Borderlands bears a strong resemblance to last year's Fallout 3, and it has cell shaded graphics, similar to those of anime based games, but it does certain things to ensure that it doesn't live in Fallout 3's shadow.
For starters, the game looks really good. I mean, most games these days look really good, but Borderlands is one of the few that manages to use more than the standard brown, grey and black in their colour palette. The whole game has this easy going, brighter vibe surrounding it.
I like the detail of the game, like how each of the various non playable characters look unique and carry on with their own individual set of activities. For example, I was just walking past this table where three men were playing a game of poker.
This character, whom I had just escorted in to the town, settles down on the remaining seat to play. Before long an argument breaks out, and finally the character whom I escorted pulls out a gun and blows the head of the man directly opposite him.
At this point of time, I'm given the choice either to help him, or to help take him down. If I help him, I have a whole town to fight off, but I will eventually get that character as an ally and I will be able to get free guns from him. However, I will never gain peaceful access to the town ever again. Of course, if he dies, I don't benefit from him at all, but I can stay at the town.
I also like the vehicle combat portions of the game. Details like motion blur and smoke are added as your vehicle accelerates, making it seem that you're travelling at extremely high speeds. The guns mounted on your vehicle have a mild auto lock on ability, to make it easier.
Next I went to play Brutal Legend. It might have been alright to say that I was exaggerating back then when I said that Brutal Legend was going to be the best game ever, since I had not played it and all, but now having played it, I can only confirm that statement once more.
In six words: Most awesome thing I've ever played.
I am an absolute metal head. I worship metal music. Brutal Legend was made by an entire team of metal heads. Brutal Legend worships metal music. I have been waiting my entire gaming life (about 6 years) for a game like this to come by.
I took over when the guy playing left, and it was some where halfway through the demo. Several minutes after I started playing it, I knew that it was something different. It's funny, it looks great, the controls are perfect, the voice acting and sound track are top notch, and most importantly, the game play is awesome.
Just listen to how freakin awesome the game is. I killed demons with a huge battle axe. Just by strumming the strings on my guitar, I attacked my enemies with lightning from the above and fire from below. I summoned a badass looking car by playing a sick guitar solo.
Then came that boss fight. Some huge snake thing came out of the ground, and I had to drive around in the car, which is called the Druid Plow by the way, and I had to use the nitro boost to avoid being crushed by the beast. While it's tongue was stuck to the ground, I had to boost the Druid Plow into it to rip it out of the snake's mouth.
After being satisfied with a taste of the game, I reluctantly let go of the controller in order to give others a chance to feel its awesomeness. Now that my eyes weren't glued to the screen, I noticed a small crowd gathering at one of the booths.
So I made my way there, and it turned out that the closed door previews were beginning. The games being previewed there were in the booths because they were considered the more 'mature' games, so it wouldn't be good if the kids saw them.
By right, you had to be 18 years of age to enter, but no one stopped me, so I just went with the flow of the crowd and got seated. There was some short presentation by some Asian guy with an American accent, telling us about the games we were about the preview.
Then we were allowed to preview the games. I'm really lucky that there weren't many people at GCA today, or else it would have taken a really long time to get a chance to play the games in the preview booth.
The first game I got to play was Assassin's Creed II, since there were four test consoles for it. The first thing that hit me was the colour. The portion of the game which I played took place in Venice, during the night. There was colour everywhere.
Then I noticed the crowd. How they seemed to be in significantly greater numbers as compared to in the first game, and how they behaved more realistically. They now talked to each other, apologized if they bumped into each other, and they responded appropriately when I interacted with them.
As you might have already guessed, the next thing I did was try to scale the nearest wall. The controls are basically the same as the first game, but the animations are way better. Ezio moves with a fluidity that his ancestor Altiar lacked.
Once I got onto the roof of the building, I started to make my way the the objective, which was this tall watch tower. I lept from rooftop to rooftop, until I stumbled upon a guard. The weapon selection system now consists of a ring of different equipment.
The weapon that immediately caught my attention? The hidden gun. It is freakin awesome to use. It takes about two seconds for Ezio to focus the aim of the gun, and then he fires it. There was a loud bang which echoed in the night, startled pigeons flew off, and the guard fell off the roof.
Ignoring the screams from below, I hurried to the watch tower and scaled it. There was a guard a the top, but I pulled him over the ledge and threw him down. I climbed higher up the structure, and I came upon Leonardo Da Vinci's flying machine.
At this point of time, I decided to hand the controller over to some other guy, because I had already seen that part tens of times in the previews. I just wanted to check out the controls and some weapons, and having done that, I was more than happy to go try something else.
I went to over to the projector screen, where a demo of Mass Effect 2 was being played. Since I didn't get a chance to play the game, I can't say anything about the controls, but the graphics, animation and sound seem to be better than the first game.
The last game I played at GCA was Dante's Inferno. It's a fun, violent little game that can benefit us all with its chartartic properties. Ok, so it's a whole lot like God of War, and the hundred other games that ripped off God of War, but it has its own unique flavour that allows it to stand out.
First of all, let me get this straight. Dante's Inferno isn't just another God of War clone. It borrows from God of War. Most action games do. Anyways, it's not like God of War invented action games with Quick Time Events, Shenmue did.
Basically, you control Dante, who is some historical figure. To save the woman he loves, he willingly steps into Hell, and fights through it's various circles, right to its core. Now, that is undeniably badass, but it's not all.
As well all know, Hell isn't a nice place to be in. Demons and tormented souls everywhere. And all of them are pretty much hostile to a living entity amongst them. So Dante has to fight them off as he goes deeper and deeper.
He has several weapons, but I only used two of them, and to be honest, those two are all you'll ever need. The first weapon is a huge scythe, which doubles as both a melee and range weapon. The staff portion of the scythe is able to extend and become flexible, turning the scythe into a whip with a serious business end.
The second weapon is this holy artifact that is able to fire out white, glowing crosses. These crosses not only damage enemies, they also stun bigger foes and push back weaker ones. The animation for this weapon is pretty badass too.
The game looks good, with moody colours and distrubing backdrops. Enemies look alright, but I only saw three different enemies in the demo, and I would appreciate more variety. The sound is great, as far as I'm concerned. See, you do not have to play metal music for a satanic vibe, classical music can do that too.
As for the gameplay, it's pretty damn awesome. I'm an Xbox person, so I've not been playing much God of War, but Dante's Inferno does play a little differently from the other game. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though.
While God of War puts heavy emphasis on puzzle solving, and there are 'dead' moments in the game, where you walk around to enjoy the scenery without being attacked, Dante's Inferno just throws at you wave after wave of unholy filth.
The action never stops and it can get overwhelming at times, which is great, since it's supposed to be the whole 'one man against Hell' thing anyway. The game is still about half a year from launch, so I'm hoping that there'll be a little changes here and there, but for the most part, it's great.
Now that I finally got my fill of gaming at GCA, I left the hall feeling super satisfied with myself. I walked over to Marina Square to meet Syafiqah, and we slacked at the food court for a while, before proceeding to the cinema.
Before we proceed into the cinema hall, I decided to go to the toilet, where I got an epic shock. I opened the door and looked into the mirror, and this freaky looking girl looked back at me. I was damn shocked man. It turned out to be an ad for some upcoming movie, and it was pasted onto the mirror.
The only other Japanese show I've watched in theatres was Detroit Metal City, and that was in Plaza Singapura, so I was a little surprised to see that the hall was actually super small. If I'm not wrong, only 80 people can fit in it.
2.5hrs later, I came out of the hall feeling happy for the most part. The movie was great. Fun to watch, cool characters, epic fight scenes, and it was filmed in a anime style, which was great.
I was a little disappointed though that the Japanese men dominated the movie, and there weren't much girls in it. The two scenes with a chance for something sexual to happen on screen also went against my hopes. Still, I enjoyed it, and I wouldn't mind watching it again.
We walked down to the Esplanade and slacked there for about an hour, then we left. Once I got home I immediately tried to upload the photos from today, but my freakin memory card is screwed so I don't think I'll ever get the photos back. Sorry Syafiqah!
Ahh well, today was a day well spent. I watched a good movie, spent time with a good friend and played tons of good games. So overall, good day. Damn it now that GCA is on I'm having an urge to attend it everyday until it's over. We'll see how it goes.
As well all know, Hell isn't a nice place to be in. Demons and tormented souls everywhere. And all of them are pretty much hostile to a living entity amongst them. So Dante has to fight them off as he goes deeper and deeper.
He has several weapons, but I only used two of them, and to be honest, those two are all you'll ever need. The first weapon is a huge scythe, which doubles as both a melee and range weapon. The staff portion of the scythe is able to extend and become flexible, turning the scythe into a whip with a serious business end.
The second weapon is this holy artifact that is able to fire out white, glowing crosses. These crosses not only damage enemies, they also stun bigger foes and push back weaker ones. The animation for this weapon is pretty badass too.
The game looks good, with moody colours and distrubing backdrops. Enemies look alright, but I only saw three different enemies in the demo, and I would appreciate more variety. The sound is great, as far as I'm concerned. See, you do not have to play metal music for a satanic vibe, classical music can do that too.
As for the gameplay, it's pretty damn awesome. I'm an Xbox person, so I've not been playing much God of War, but Dante's Inferno does play a little differently from the other game. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though.
While God of War puts heavy emphasis on puzzle solving, and there are 'dead' moments in the game, where you walk around to enjoy the scenery without being attacked, Dante's Inferno just throws at you wave after wave of unholy filth.
The action never stops and it can get overwhelming at times, which is great, since it's supposed to be the whole 'one man against Hell' thing anyway. The game is still about half a year from launch, so I'm hoping that there'll be a little changes here and there, but for the most part, it's great.
Now that I finally got my fill of gaming at GCA, I left the hall feeling super satisfied with myself. I walked over to Marina Square to meet Syafiqah, and we slacked at the food court for a while, before proceeding to the cinema.
Before we proceed into the cinema hall, I decided to go to the toilet, where I got an epic shock. I opened the door and looked into the mirror, and this freaky looking girl looked back at me. I was damn shocked man. It turned out to be an ad for some upcoming movie, and it was pasted onto the mirror.
The only other Japanese show I've watched in theatres was Detroit Metal City, and that was in Plaza Singapura, so I was a little surprised to see that the hall was actually super small. If I'm not wrong, only 80 people can fit in it.
2.5hrs later, I came out of the hall feeling happy for the most part. The movie was great. Fun to watch, cool characters, epic fight scenes, and it was filmed in a anime style, which was great.
I was a little disappointed though that the Japanese men dominated the movie, and there weren't much girls in it. The two scenes with a chance for something sexual to happen on screen also went against my hopes. Still, I enjoyed it, and I wouldn't mind watching it again.
We walked down to the Esplanade and slacked there for about an hour, then we left. Once I got home I immediately tried to upload the photos from today, but my freakin memory card is screwed so I don't think I'll ever get the photos back. Sorry Syafiqah!
Ahh well, today was a day well spent. I watched a good movie, spent time with a good friend and played tons of good games. So overall, good day. Damn it now that GCA is on I'm having an urge to attend it everyday until it's over. We'll see how it goes.
posted @ 11:13 PM
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