~This is one H A I R Y blog~

Been out of it for a looooong time

2010-01-04T14:59:00.005+08:00

Hi guys... if you are still out there. Sorry I've been away for such a long time. Been upto a tons of things... looking after a couple of crazy boys (no... not human babies, just cats) and trying to get a roof over our heads. And finally in a couple of weeks it will all come together and I'll be one broke but happy guy. Thank God!

P.S - the pic above is one of the crazies I mentioned. I'll be posting their pics and also my new domain (their playground) soon.

Hairy is back with a....Wait! Make that: back FROM a bang!!!

2009-06-20T15:29:00.012+08:00

Finally back! Got my new mini HD camcorder ready and thought I'd give it a shot at the Video Games Live concert last night. And boy...I had my socks blown off!

All I gotta say is... all those skeptics who said its "overpriced" or "Ugh! Its the NUS orchestra" better start believing cuz the VGL kicks the shit out of every other video games concert out there...even FF Distant Worlds. Thats right! I said it! Kiss my ass Square fanboys! They even had a more entertaining show at the VGAs for you cock suckers too! Whatever fanboy you are, whether its MGS, Mario, Warcraft, FF or even Tetris... they had it all covered! Its every gamers musical heaven!

With further a due... let the vids do the talking. Gotta apologies for shakiness of some of the vids cuz the dude sitting beside me kept moving on his seat like a tard.

And finally, some one-on-one time! Again, apologies for the bad framing cuz I was trying to record with one hand, hold my signed items in the other and keep booklets under my arm all at the same time.

Three's NEVER a crowd...

2009-05-24T18:11:00.006+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. But been busy as usual lately. Yes, there will be two cool cats joining my video blogs soon and I'm also waiting for a MUCH better camcorder to arrive, that I purchased recently.

Been trying to set some things straight recently. Also have pretty much caught up to my to-play-pile of games. Also, probably gonna take a break from handheld gaming on the train so I can catch up to my to-read-pile of books!

Yes, my crazy rants will be back. So, hold your horses... this blog is about to get a lot more crowded, bitches!!!

Hairy's Rant on RIPOFFS!

2009-03-14T16:18:00.000+08:00

Any ticks on your checklist?

2009-01-30T11:24:00.006+08:00

Milk it until puss comes out... and then milk some more!!!

2009-01-21T11:52:00.007+08:00

I'll get straight to the point... Square Enix is a cash-whore! Nowadays who isnt? Even behind every great game, there's $$$ involved. The smart cash whores publish the good games and get a good return on their investment. The idiotic ones are those who publish games in the hope of making easy money. Its not always straight forward though, some smart ones sometimes fail to get the return due to poor sales and the idotic ones can get away with selling a million copies of some shitty game which might have a popular license tied into the game.

Now... I'm not only calling Square Enix a cash-whore because FFXIII is also coming the 360 or because they claim that they are a "multiplatform publisher" but they havent released a single PS3 title and have already puked out abortions like Infinite Undiscovery and Last Remnant for the 360. Also, not calling them cash-whores for allegedly taking under the table moneyhat for Star Ocean 4's exclusivity. What I'm calling them out for is... for not only milking the crap out of their Final Fantasy franchise but also skimming the milk that is FFVII.

I dont wanna bother listing down the zillions of iterations of Final Fantasy VII thats out there. But also having the many different versions of the same product. I guess one of the reasons is because of the existance of loyal cocksucking fanboys that are out there, who will pay a good amount of money on a book which only contains some screenshots/concept art of a game yet to be released.

I know and appreciate that Square's art is very strong, but come-the-fuck-on!!! When I see the long ass lines at TGS to watch the upcoming game trailers, I can understand. Afterall, you are getting free glimps or trial of a game that you are looking forward to. But then again, when I see people say stuff in forums like "I wouldnt mind buying the FFXIII demo that comes with Advent Children Complete", its then I realize where Square gets the idea to charge EXTRA 1000yen for slipping in the demo with the bluray disc. Ofcourse fantards will argue "its 20 hours of gameplay" and I say "yeah, its the same fucking 20 hours of gameplay that I will get when I buy the full fucking version of the game, jackass!" Its like if someone asked me to buy the 1st 2 hours of MGS4 on a disc before the game would release. I'd give Konami the finger instead of my money if they did that.

Hmmm... now I realize, I shouldnt be mad at Square. I'm now pissed at the idiots who worship anything Square throws in their faces. Its like saying..."Oh I cant wait to try the FFXIII demo, which is supposed to be FREE like any other demo, but I will pay you some of my hard earned cash to show you my appreciation. Wait... why should it be only me? Every single of my fellow fucking fantards should show appreciation. So please charge money for it and we'll all gladly BUY whats supposed to be FREE. We're also willing to throw in cash for anything you release, so make sure you overprice them!"

All I can say is ... its your money and if you happily wanna spend it go ahead. But when you cross the line of hardcore fanboyism it encourages publishers to charge for items that are supposed to be free. And even those of us, who appreciates games and understands game development is expensive, find it hard to throw away our money at such crap! If you are one of those senseless spoilt brats who bought 2 copies of FFXIII poster in order to "treasure" one of them and hang the other, I hope God blesses you with a brain or curses you with proverty depending on which disease you have.

VIDEO PODCAST 01

2009-01-03T15:17:00.007+08:00

Will try to make the lighting better next time so that I dont look like those Bushmen from Africa! Not that it matters or makes any difference.

COMING SOON!!!

2008-12-29T14:26:00.004+08:00

Oppurtunity to catch up

2008-12-15T16:09:00.003+08:00

Finally, yours truly gets to catch up with his to-play-pile of games. Now that the release season is over, I can finally get down to finishing them off one by one. Yep, as you can see on the column on the right, I'm finally playing Mass Effect. Damn, I wish I played it earlier. Its a great game! Finding it more enjoyable having read the prequel novel, which sets up for the game nicely. However, some of the character models and lipsync animation needs some serious work! With all the fanboys going crazy last time over its "realistic" animation, I'd say Heavenly Sword did a better job in terms of facial animation in games.

Having said that, the game is great! Oh, I already said that didnt I? So, we'll see how they put things together. I'm also waiting for the sequel novel to the game. Read that its not as good as the 1st novel, but I'll go through it anyways since I like the universe/setting so much. Those guys at Bioware are really good at setting up a world for sure. They bloody well think of every damn detail.

Let's see... what do I have left to play?!? This is what I'm probably gonne be playing in sequence:

- Yakuza 2

- Super Mario Galaxy (yes, I know... you must be wondering "which rock has this guy been living under?")

- Dead Rising (yes...I was under the same rock. But hey, atleast I played the game a bit before)

- Fallout 3 (Oblivion with guns....here I come!!!)

- (put any game that I forgot to mention in the list)

Not only games, but everything else in my life seems to be going through the same phase. My goals in life... both financial and career-wise. It's time once again to step things in high gear instead of sitting on my fatass, waiting for things to happen!

The REAL head-to-head

2008-11-24T15:07:00.005+08:00

Alright... having finished both sequels of Resistance 2 and Gears 2, I am here to give my verdict! I know quite a few gaming sites who've done these sort of head-to-head and in the end said..."oh they are great shooters, so if you have both consoles, buy both!" To me, thats just a bunch of crap they put up so that they dont have to be honest and end up being called "fanboys".

Come on, you pussies! Gimme a bloody honest opinion! Let hear you say... "Resistance 2 beats Gears 2 cuz of the sheer content of the game and online features" or "Gears 2 is definitely bigger, better & more badass compared to Resistance 2". Ofcourse, dont be a fucking retarded fanboy and say stuff like "Gears 2 pawns Resistance 2, PS3 sucks and 360 rules!" Just be honest and say the word. If you wanna speak for the site your represent, then get votes and choose ONE winner!

So whats my take? Well, if it even matters to you... lemme put it this way... I should've played Resistance 2 before I played Gears 2. Cuz when it comes to single player campaign, Gears 2 curb stomps the SHIT out of Resistance 2. Not to say, R2's campaign sucked. It was definitely fun, but not as epic as Gears 2. Yes, I know you fanboys will say "R2 has huge bosses!" but as if that defines how "epic" a game is? To put it simply, Gears 2 gameplay was the core of what Gears 1 was but more on an epic scale of the war thats taking place in the universe. The story was better than the 1st game but nothing "awesome" like some dumbass fanboys put it!

No, Im not sorry to say that I dont really care about R2's Nathan Hale. Maybe I did a little near the end of the game. Speaking of which, what kind of ending was that??? Gears 2's character development was not bad and everything you did had some meaning. Although it did have some corny ass dialogue here and there, overall it was like a summer blockbuster movie. In terms of gameplay every satisfying headshot, execution and character swearing during the game was just "badass"! Not to mention the boss battles were great too. Whereas R2 was just a FPS with cool weapons and frustrating-as-hell segments. The bloody death music is still ringing in my head! However, Gears 2 also had its share of crappy moments where you'd have to restart an entire area cuz you were killed by a ticker just a couple of steps from the next checkpoint. Then again, it could've been cuz I was playing on Hardcore. And before you go bitching about why I mentioned R2 was frustrating, I was playing on Normal.

Me being more of a single player person, I still gave R2 online a shot. It was ok... not much different from a typical FPS multiplayer. I've yet to play Gears 2 online, but considering the hours I spend hours playing Gears 1 online on my PC, I know I'll be hooked. Not to mention playing Horde mode with friends!

So, I guess you can tell what my "biased" verdict is. But just to make it more obvious to you, let me just say that I am playing Gears 2 on Insane every night and I already sold my R2 long ago!

HairyAsHell goes to Tokyo Game Show for the 1st time!

2008-10-12T23:14:00.024+08:00

Thats right! Your very own just return from a trip from Tokyo. However, only managed to be at TGS on the 1st day. Man, what a rush! So here's a bunch of pics for your jerking pleasure. Sorry, no booth babes though. Hope this makes up for the lack of posts in the last month!

This is madness! THIS IS.... TOKYO SUBWAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!

A train full of Men in Black

Disneyland on the way. Didnt have enough time/money to go. Boo hoo! Well, next year God willing!

Just follow the flood of humans!

Getting warm!

Hey look its a giant cockroach rider (cock-rider in short)

Giving a lesson to the baddies

Long queue for registration, even on business day. Yeah, this line goes around Makuhari Messe hall on Public days. I'll keep away from being in a sardine packed place, Thank you!

Hurry up, dammit!

Finally, we are in!!!

Cool new arcade game. A mix of 2D characters in 3d backgrounds

Ofcourse, like a true "fanboy" fashion, I headed straight to Sony's booth!

The PS Hall, where everyone was looking up at the big ass screen and drooling at the Advent Children Complete, White Knight trailers

Patapon 2 and Loco Rocco 2. Cant help but love 'em!

PSP-3000

Take that HD-DVD. Oh, sorry! You are already dead.

The restricted entrance to the M-rated games. Protected by a Helgast! Oooh, those glowing eyes!

I went in with a lot of excitement and then they say "please choose 1 of the 5 following games to queue up for. You can queue up for only one game at a time". So I had no choice but to choose RE5. Then I see a sign that says "10 minute playing session each"... I was like "WTF!!!" Even then I waited over 30 mins just to get my hands on the game and it was bloody worth it!

Some nice LBP love for Japan!

Sackboy!!!

After deciding not to waste time queueing, I ended up doing it again for White Knight Story. Luckily it took only 5mins to get in.

And I got THIS! On the back is a URL and a password to access some "exclusive" info.

You are welcome, Kojima-san. Cool montage!

Why on earth would I wanna queue up to go in there to play a game thats already released?

Oh my favorite Capcom! When shall thou embrace me???

Oi, dont shit in public!

How cool is that? They give free Bionic Commando poster when you play the demo. I'm all for it!

Trailer was nice. But not sure how it will turn out to be though.

Loved it in the Tokyo arcade! Didnt get to try to console versions though

I'm not getting out of one RE5 madness to get into another.

Fate Stay Night fighting game for the arcades.

It has "Thats how you do it Koei!" written all over it. You gotta have balls to do that. Its Capcom afterall.

Cool way to let your customers try your games, eh?

Monster Hunter Madness!!!

From Software's booth

Get out of way bitches!

I was curious what more damage they did to my favorite ninja series, but I was surprised to find out that the Wii game was not bad. They use a new game mechanic using shadows which is pretty cool. Not bad at all.

Ninja blade looks like a Ninja Gaiden ripoff mixed with God of War quicktime scenes. We'll see how it turns out

Some Armored Core stuff

For a company with limited resources, they had a big ass screen

Level 5 had a seperate booth too Showing off some of their DS and PSP titles.

Especially the new collaboration project with Ghibli

Marvelous Entertainment had a strong showing. Their art styles look fantastic

Aaaaah... Microsoft! Oh how I fucking hate your guts, but your games are still irresistable!

They had a great showing at TGS with playable version of Prince of Persia, Fallout3, Fable 2, Street Fighter and ofcourse the JRPGs. Didnt bother trying Fable and Fallout since they are coming out soon anyways. Although I wish I had enough time to try PoP.

Yep, tried Star Ocean 4 and Last Remnant. I'd say I digged SO4 but Last Remnant, not so much! SO4 had the charm of the previous games and seemed more polished. Looks like tri-ace spent most of their efforts on this game than the M$ funded mediocre crap known as Infinite Undiscovery. Last Remnant was a bit of a dissapointment. I expected the gameplay to be more refreshing and engaging. Instead I was just left with turn based strategy gameplay, where I just selected my squads to attack different enemy squads then had to wait a minute or two just to see them carry out their actions. Also the game was lagging like shit and having constant texture pop-ins (typical Unreal Engine issue). Instead of using Western technology, they should've just used their own engine to make this "western" game.

Hey its DMC4... but whats this? Refrain? An expansion pack?

Its for MOBILE! I almost forgot. MOBILE games are big in Japan. Buttons too small... dont like!

Heck, they even have Lost Planet for MOBILE.

More MOBILE games

Oi Namco Bandai, Now why do you have to go suck M$'s cock? Oh wait, was it the other way around. Nonetheless, you should've just announced Tekken 6 as multiplatform in the 1st place.

SEEEEGAAAA!!! They had a big presence at the show.

And Yakuza 3 presence could be felt. Bloody hell, I havent even touched Yakuza 2 yet

Famous voice actors, red carpet into the hall... what a way to market!

Thats Sonic Unleashed for us!

Finally a good Sonic game? Had the nostalgic speedy Sonic gameplay. Its gonna be in my radar for sure! But not sure how Werehog would play like.

Speak of the devil!

A card collector's wet dream

Really regret not getting the chance to try this unique game. You place the Wiimote on the cardboard box, and then you tap on the cardboard box to control the game. How the fuck they do that???

Onto the shopping/mercandise area

S$30+ for a game OST??? kiss my ass, Square Enix! Kiss my HAIRY ASS!!!

Heck they even sell game character costumes here

I was about to go in prepared to through in all my money in there

But other than a couple of posters and jackets, the quality of the merchandise was dissapointing

One of the better merchandise, but not cheap!

Now, THESE are what they should be selling instead of teasing us with

Square's stuff was high quality stuff as usual. Drool away, fanboys!

Onto the SNK booth. I headed straight for the KOFXII machines!

Felt great to be playing KOF like it originally was in the 97-98 series.

Kicked another players ass. Although, didnt like the fact the Iori had no powers this time

Sqeenix. They had a few games like Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts playable, but where the hell is Kingdom Hearts 3???

Cute chocobo posing for photos

Look at 'em queue up!

Taito has a big presence too! They even have their own arade Akiba like Sega

Gardening Mama! What next? Toilet cleaning mama? Now that could have a good use of the Wiimote!

EA had a been-there-done-that booth. Didnt really have the time to go in and check it out!

And oh yeah! There were hell of a lot of Japanese games that you've probably never heard of. Especially for the DS.

This anime is quite popular in Japan now. Merchandise everywhere, the game not a bad action RPG too

Now THAT's one figurine I wouldnt mind having in my living room!

A company that does cool Japanese style pouches, skins for the PSP

Thats all, bitches! Stay tuned for pics of the whole trip!

Shit Appreciation!

2008-09-27T10:51:00.002+08:00

Yes, I know. I havent posted in a while... as usual. But lets just say, this month I've been quite hungry most of the time to even rant on this blog. Basically, I was more lazy than usual. Anyways, I finally had some motivation to actually post in such a situation.

I for one am one of those people who respect what game developers do. No matter how shitty or great a game they make, both small or big. However, sometimes some devs do things makes me wonder "what were they on when they decided to put this in their game???" Ofcourse, I wont blame them when it comes to issues/flaws of the game that might be related to time and money. But the idea of "unskippable" cutscenes still makes me wonder, what shrooms japanese devs and some Western devs *cough* Too Human *cough* were eating when they decided among themselves, "Oooooh! We put so much time and effort into making the beautiful cutscenes! Why dont we just make them unskippable? Let the player suffer as much as possible. The longer the cutscene, the better!"

Ok, I am a guy who likes games with stories. Heck, even the dramatical theatrical shit that Japanese RPGs have, I am all for as long as it fits the context. But why o why do they have to let u watch a loooooooooooong cutscene before a boss fight and then as you die to figure out how to beat the boss, you gotta watch the cutscene all over again? I dont think even the most cock-sucking, balls-carrying Square Enix fanboy would wanna watch a boring cutscene more than 3 times! Yeah, I am taking about FFVII: Crisis Core here. Come on, man! What do you expect me to do while the cutscene plays out? Scratch my balls? It makes me sick to the point, that I almost went to youtube to see the ending and switched to another game. But thankfully, I figured how to beat the boss early enough to keep going and not bull my pubs out!

Bottom line.... please developers... Especially hard assed japanese developers. You guys are falling behind globally already. So please try to get your heads out of your asses and adopt to what people want and need if you wanna survive. You guys are supposed to be the geniuses who come up the with the best games. Heck, most of my all time favorite games are from japanese origin. So pleaaaaaaase, do yourselves a favor by showing some respect for your work and most importantly, to those who pay money to buy your games!!!

TWO awesome!!!

2008-07-30T11:02:00.008+08:00

Just a couple of weeks back I experienced not one but TWO freaking awesome entertainment pieces. Yeah, I'm gonna say it... MGS4 is one the best 'experience' I had in recent memory. Finally a game that made me feel I was playing something different and fresh.

Although I've already proven myself as a fanboy of the series, I didnt expect the game to be this good. But I gotta admint, most of the time, I was watching rather than playing the game, it still lived up to the hype. Like all other games, in my opinion, its not perfect, but it did satisfy the MGS fan inside me in every way. Some say, they might as well make it a movie rather than release as a game. I say, it wouldnt freaking work out to be as good. The "interactive movie" is what sells its so well. Not to mention all the great characters and finally bringing the saga to a decent ending makes it all worthwhile.

Whats the other thing that so bloody awesome? THE DARK KNIGHT!!! Although the Joker stole the show, its the best superhero movie, if not one of the best movie I have seen. Screw the sissy Spidey movies and the "typical" Ironman movie. This is the real deal. Again, its not perfect and has some tiny plotholes here and there, but it was worth watching the 2nd time around. I already got the blu-ray of Batman Begins and The Gotham Knight. Man, watching those in HD beats going to the theatres. Wish there was an IMAX theatre in here to watch TDK.

My PRECIOUS!!!

2008-07-25T14:26:00.007+08:00

Yeah... finally back! Survived the wedding and now a chubby hubby. Atleast not totally broke....yet. Still not out of the woods cuz there's the honeymoon and receptions to do at various places. You can say, the 2 week holiday was quite tiring but yet refreshing. Now a new life begins for Hairy!!!

I missed the E3 live coverage but seems like there wasnt anything really "exciting" announced other than Microsoft taking away PS3 exclusive as usual with their wallet. Some say its good for the publisher/developer cuz more people can play the game so in the process they earn some money. On the other hand, fanboys will say its "betrayal from Square" and "Sneaky on Microsoft's part". Although I kinda sympathize with them, my take is somewhere in the middle... loosing exclusivity makes a game less "valuable" in my book.

If an item is available to everybody, it doesnt have the precious-ness you'd feel if it was only one console and the only way to play that games was to have that console. Yeah, sounds a bit fanboyish, doesnt it? But I feel console exclusives should STAY exclusive. Publishers need money and game developments are rising higher. But if a game is good such as Gears of War, god of war, or even Metrioid, the money will pour in. Also, from a development perspective, if you are console exclusive, taking advantage of the hardware features makes an overall better product. Thats why there are studios who decide to sign up with publishers like Microsoft and Sony.

So yeah, all those money hungry publishers out there... just concentrate on making a great product and dont go switching platforms and screwing fans just for money. But hey, as if my words were supposed to make a difference, then I wouldnt be ranting here now would I? And oh yeah, those idiots who start thinking I'm blabbing that ALL titles should be exclusive, get your head out of your asses and hear me good.... I'm talking about E-X-C-L-U-S-I-V-E franchises ONLY!!!

Hopefully can keep updating on a weekly basis. Need to go finish my MGS4!

MGS4 SUPER FAN!!!....well, almost!

2008-06-30T16:16:00.005+08:00

Whats missing is the full japanese OST I guess. Should arrive in a couple of weeks though...hehe! At first, I didnt give a rat's ass about the gunmetal PS3, but after my wife should it to me for real.... I just couldnt resist! I liked it so much, I sacrificed my 60GB ps3 to get this baby. Not to mention the sweet Limited Edition Guide book too. Heck, I even decided to keep the Japanese Special Edition that comes with HAGANE ps3. However, I'll be selling of the cheap ass "making-of" bluray & OST that came with the US Limited Edition.

Hopefully, by the time Im done with the game itself, I'll feel all my money was well spent on one of the greatest games of all time *crosses fingers*. And oh yeah, did I mentioned the UNIQLO shirts are on the way too?

Oh Itagaki... dont stick your finger into .... your ass!!!

2008-06-25T15:47:00.006+08:00

In case you live in La-La land, Itagaki is the creator of the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series. He's also known to be a womanizer and a pervert who was accused of sexually assaulting a co-worker by sticking his finger down her throat. Someone seems to likes deepthroating!

Anyways, I dunno the guy personally so I dunno or give a shit of what sort of a person he really is, but I'll let you judge based on his LOOKS! But I do have a lot of respect for the guy's work. I believe, Ninja gaiden has one of the best combat systems for an action game. I really enjoyed Ninja Gaiden Sigma when I first played it and I realized its not a Devil May Cry rip-off as I thought it to be at first look. Although he doesnt take some ideas from DMC.

Now with all the lawsuit going on with him and Tecmo, I've come to realize how much he NEEDS to relieve himself of his duty as a game designer. Especially after completing Ninja Gaiden 2. As we all know, he's the cocky Xbox fanboy who brags about his own games and bashes the competitors; which is alright in my book once you make it big like him. However, once I see that "the best action game sequel on the most powerful hardware" is actually a step BACKWARDS in terms of design and performance, I cant help but bash him back.

WTF is Ninja Gaiden 2 in a nutshell??? Its Ninja Gaiden Sigma with a couple of new weapons and a LOT more gore that runs worse on the Xbox 360 than it did on the PS3. Yes, you read it right... NG2 runs lower than 720p, look and performs worse than Sigma. Graphically alsmot same, but the art direction of the sequel isnt upto par. And oh yeah, Sigma was ported by his "underlings" which he conveniently bashed when he first introduced NG2 as 360 exclusive. The enviroments are bland compared to Sigma, the camera fucks your eyes and the difficulty anal rapes you to oblivion. Even then, I enjoyed the game cuz the combat mechanics are still solid as before. However, it feels like an expansion pack that broke parts of the game than a worthy sequel. I thought sequels supposed to fix the "issues" the previous games had?

Thats that. I had MORE than enough time to finish it and then play some GTA4 somemore. Had to wait 2 bloody weeks to get my hands on my imported MGS4. But I guess it was worth the wait. Almost coincides with my purchase of the HAGANE PS3. What a fucking fate!

I'll definitely put up my take of the game when I'm done with it. But dont expect it to be anytime soon cuz I gotta marriage ceremony to survive through first. So patience, bitches!

Never say NEVER!!!

2008-06-09T14:26:00.003+08:00

I am proud to say that I've always completed almost all my games on "normal" difficulty and WITHOUT any guides,walkthroughs, or cheats. But once in a while comes an exception where the game (or me) is too fucking retarded to figure out or it is too frustrating for me to give a rat's ass about completing it the way it was "meant" to be played.

Here comes along GTA4... although a great game... breaks my own rules! And ME saying its a great game means something cuz I never finished any of the previous GTAs and never a big fan of it. But guess what, its one of the most of overrated games of all time. I already mentioned the retardedness of giving perfect scores in games and at first, I kinda accepted the perfect scores of GTA4 since it has so much hype. So as I started playing it, I was getting why the critiques *cough* journalists *cough* wet themselves with their scores!

The game as a whole is great cuz the GTA formula has been great over the years. However, this games is fucking flawed all over the place... not only technically but also in terms of design. Even my favourite IGN said it "pushes boundaries & takes the genre forward"???? WTF!!?!?!?!

Ok, I dont have the time to go into the details, but if you have the remote common sense of a gamer and not some GTA4 fanboy, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Lemme give an example... NPC tells me ... "Go take a truck at the other end of the city." After I get there the guy tells me "Take the truck to a place on the other side of the city" and only when I get there, the gunfight starts. But guess what happens if I die??? You guessed right... I gotta go do all the crap all over again to start the gunfight. Now people might say in defense of the game, "why not do some fun stuff along the way?" I say... FUCK YOU!!! You think I have the fucking time to mess around in GTA all the time? I just wanna go through the bloody single player story. I'm always dicking around the city and multiplayer, but cant I be left all the bullshit and be brought right to the action if I die in a gunfight?

In the end, as if my rant is gonna change anything? GTA5 will have the same design flaw cuz nobody is gonna complain about the issue and "overlook" it cuz of so much "fun" the game provides. This is just ONE of the boring ass shit you gotta do in the game to finish the single player game. And God I pray that someday I go back to finishing it cuz I still like the game and the great characters.

Right now I'm busy getting frustrated with Ninja Gaiden 2's crappy camera. Speaking of which, I'll rant about that freaking Itagaki soon. So hold on to your ballz!!!

Be a MAN... do the right thing!

2008-05-26T15:22:00.010+08:00

What the fuck is wrong with me??? I havent been updating the blog for ages, pissing people off and not havent finished my own "work". Have I been slacking off? Ummm, no! I've barely been playing any games. I'm only 37% done in GTAIV and I dunno when I'll be able to finish the MGS Essential Collection. So there's no time to play games, barely enough time to do my "work" and tiny weeny bit of oppurtunity to prepare for marriage.

Why is my life so busy? I guess, it comes with being a MAN! A bro of mine once told me... if you dont have anything TO DO when you wake up in the morning, you are not a MAN! So I guess I do have a dick and a pair of balls! If you are one of those people who have too much time on their hands... you are either being a pussy or you are too damn rich and therefore lazying off the rest of your days. Lucky bastard!

When will I be able to do that? I dont wanna be a millionaire... I just wanna take care of my loved ones and be able to do what I love and "try" to make sure I dont do anything that will send me to hell!

There I go ranting again. No, I'm not sorry! This is a ranting blog, so FUCK YOU! Anyways, back to games... here's whats in my to-play-pile:

Mass Effect
Jade's Ass (my title for "Assassin's Creed")
Super Mario Galaxy
Folklore
Burnout Paradise
MGS Essential Collection
Indigo Prophecy
Dead Rising

Baby, can we atleast finish the single player games 1st???

*Goes off to count the number of white hair on his head*

2008-04-28T15:01:00.004+08:00

OMG...HairyAsHell might be a fucking fanboy!!!

2008-04-04T23:41:00.008+08:00

Yeah I know...most of the time I might come across as one cuz I defend the PS3 more than the other consoles. But hold on.... lemme rant out some shit....

First off...if any of you actually waste your money on the GAMEAXIS mag, then I feel sorry for you. But what my point is, if you did buy and read the latest issue, you'll realize I actually got featured in it....kinda...well atleast my forum post did.

read the full article here...

So here you go... here's some of the pics of our room taken for the "Show your PS3 setup thread" over at GAX forums. Behold!!! The room of a fanboy...

Hmmm... I guess I am one of those hardcore "aggressive" fanboys who also owns and plays games as much on all the other platforms (including PC). SHAME ON YOU, HAIRY! YOU ARE SUCH A SHAMELESS HYPOCRITE!!!

Now you can slap me back!

2008-04-02T12:51:00.003+08:00

I know I need to update more often but atleast now you guys can rant back at me with the shoutbox on the right. Atleast you can scream for updates when I get too lazy. Or you those who feel "offended" can try to offend me back. Bring it on bitches!!!

Good buffet, but bad aftertaste!

2008-03-07T17:05:00.009+08:00

Sorry to the 2 people, who bothers to visit this blog, for not updating in a while. I've been melting my brain working on new stuff.

Anyways, as usual, I'm trying to catch up with my "to-play-pile" of games. Still quite games to go. I've been enjoying most of them. One of them being that little 3rd party Wii game that's been selling like shit. Yes, I'm talking about Zak & Wiki. It started out so well and had me interested all the way thru UNTIL the last couple of stages.

Why you gotta do that to me CAPCOM? I mean come on... what you have here is such a well designed puzzle game but why you gotta turn me off by making me replay levels from the start when you keep killing me as I'm trying to figure out how to pass the level? Why couldnt you have some sort of a checkpoint where I continue playing from so that I dont have to redo the parts which I already figured out???

Then in the 2nd last stage, you gotta anal fuck me some more with the crappy Wii controls to fight the pirates. Jeez, I got so pissed off I decided to use the freaking guide and guess what...EVEN the guide writer is guessing how the Wiimote sword fighting works. And FUCK YOU to the loosers who thinks "Oooooh! The wiimote is so cool, now you can feel like you are really fighting with a sword in fighting games". This fucking fucked up technology is for the grannies and kiddies who dunno what they are doing and all they do is wave their arms around and their success is based on luck.

Bottom line, you just made me eat such a delicious buffet only to stick a pile of shit into my plate so that I throw up all the nice food I ate!!! Developers, dont do that to us gamers please! And personally, I'd only do that if I felt like torturing those who buy my games.

Dont betray me bitches!!!

2008-02-24T15:30:00.008+08:00

Ok. lets get to the point! FUCK YOU, CAPCOM! Fuck you down your money hungry mouth! Oh..."for what?"??? You are one of my favourite developers. Your fucking designers, producers and directors are fucking great! They come up with the SHIT that makes everyone's ass jiggle!!! But why oh why you gotta screw the fans huh?

You hungry for money? Then make your games multiplatform like you did with DMC4. You wanna earn money until it bleeds through your fucking nose? Release all your games like EA does...ON EVERY SHIT CONSOLE THAT IS OUT THERE! But dont fucking go SCREWING those people who supported you through the years by taking a franchise EXCLUSIVE to another platform the franchise didnt grow up in. Dont be like those fuckers at Square Enix who screwed Nintendo fans over FF7. But that might've been slightly Nintendo's fault.

But anyways... you know what I'm talking about, bitch! Although this is old news... but I've fucking fallen in love with Monster Hunter since I started playing it recently. Only to realize that you fucking fucks already announced that the 3rd game exclusive to the Wii instead of the PS3. "Our pussies hurt! We need vagisil! It costs a lot of money to make a HD Monster Hunter on the PS3. So we are gonna take it to your granny's console, the Wii! We are gonna do a dumbed down version or a port of the previous games and just release the game with lotsa waggle in it!"

Seriously... come on assholes! You had the money. The fans were waiting. This game would've been awesome with online play and next gen graphics. But noooo.... you shits had to make it exclusive to the Wii cuz you know all the Japanese gay fucks are obsessed with the platform. Eventhough Monster Hunter 2 was the best selling game in Japan on the PSP, you had to screw us over for your fucking Wii port!

So lemme tell you this... atleast add the online play and give me atleast better graphics than PS2 so that I can enjoy it even a LITTLE BIT on the Wii! Even better... announce the PS3 version also. Be a good bunch of boys...OK???

Jerk your brain cells!

2008-02-17T14:32:00.006+08:00

Sorry that I havent updated lately. Was really busy with work. Getting some inspirations, coming up with shitty ideas and trying to prevent from making a fool out of myself.

I have realized that no matter what you are doing as an artist, designer or programmer in this industry, you do loose your grip of what you love if you dont think creatively enough. If you become a robot and just follow instructions and "pretending" to be doing what you love, you are bloody wrong! How can you be doing what you love when someone else is pulling the strings? But that doesnt mean you decide everything. You gotta be able to have guidance and get feedback on what the fuck you are doing, otherwise you'll be churning out shit! On the other hand, if you dont have any say in what you are doing. If you dont have the integrity to defend what you do and have the oppurtunity to churn those brain cells, I suggest you get the fuck outta there! Or you could just do a hostile takeover like a jackass!

Anyways, I realized that the more I try think of ideas, the more I appreciate those who were able to deliver and give us such great games. The more I think about whats going on BTS, the more I realize the flaws and its genius that went behind every design decision.

So here's my verdict, there's STILL a lot to push in terms of "next gen". There's a lot more things that can be taken beyond the limits that we know of. Its now just a matter of who's gonna provide the money.

VOTE for me!!!

2008-01-30T12:59:00.000+08:00

The poll on the right is for a research of mine. Need your honest votes! So be a bunch of good boys & girls and vote away! You may mix and match to be more specific. e.g Action Adventure

Thanks in advance people!

Dont kiss...just SUCK on it, why dont ya?

2008-01-23T10:51:00.001+08:00

In my last post, I was ranting about original IPs and whether old formulas, presented well can be successful. I kinda blamed the developers for trying to milk franchises over and over again and some who tried to do something different but couldnt execute well on them. I realized that not only does it have financial implications, but also there are crazy ass fans out there who would defend their favourite franchise even if it was a pile of crap! In fact, there are those who will keep buying sequels over and over again just to whet their appetite of the game they like. Heck, even I would do the same if it was the case of MGS. However, how many times would I do it until I realize that the developers have gone astray? Would I stop buying my favourite franchise just to send Kojima a message?

Then there's the factor of fans staying satisfied with what they get no matter how technically fucked up a game is. Gundam Musou & Dynasty Warriors 6 are a couple of those games. I am shocked to see the satisfaction fans get from these games eventhough repitition is written all over the game. Not to mention the unforgivable techincal flaws for a current gen title. Some argue, this game is meant to relieve stress and one can overlook its crappiness. But have we come to an age where quality doesnt matter? Wouldnt these franchises be much cooler for fans, if they had online co-op of some sort? Wouldnt they be cooler with smarter AI? Wouldnt they be more interesting if they had a new setting?

I guess fans, who are reading this and calling me a hypocrite right now, can answer that better than me. Hell, I might be talking out of my ass but the guys over at IGN Podcast Beyond probably agree with me! So to fans of any franchise... kiss asses all you want, but as a gamer, I would want more out of games if I were you. There are plenty of sequels out there. Its the bread and butter of this ever growing industry, but sequels of DMC, MGS, GTA etc all leave us wanting for more. So Bottom line is, with the awesome quality titles out there, developers need to step it up a notch to stay in the competition and gamers shouldnt settle for anything less than major improvements and innovations even for sequels. And if a developer can step forward with a new franchise... I for one will greet it with open arms, wont you?

Dare to be different?

2008-01-10T14:31:00.001+08:00

Yeah, thats right! I'll be talking about Jade's Ass in this post! But before I do that, lemme rant a bit about how some of the games this year have tried to do new things. While some pulled it off & won our hearts, while some just sucked ass! *cough* L.A.I.R *cough*

We all love games that introduce new ideas and execute on them well. However, I used to think that you dont really have to have new ideas in every game to have fun. For example, you dont expect every movie you go to the cinemas to watch to show you something different. All it boils down to is how much entertainment value you get out of the movie. It also holds true for games.

Then again, I did realize that games that do introduce new ideas have more of a bigger impact on me than a game that just takes old formulas and refines them. Having said that, new formulas have a bigger risk involved since its execution has never been tried before which gives the creators a lot more credit if they can pull it off. Kojima-san, you always amaze me!

Now if we take recent games as examples to try figure out what the fuck I'm talking about, then games like Uncharted is one good example. This is one game that takes formulas from Gears of war, prince of persia and blends in with great story/characters to give you a very cinematic and enjoyable experience! BUT... its not "Overall Game of the Year" material. Definitely best on the PS3, but not strong enough to go against even small games like Portal.

Speaking of which, games such as Bioshock & Mario Galaxy bring in new context of gameplay to your standard formula of shooter and platformer respectively. Where Assassin's Creed (Jade's Ass) does a new take on the free roaming idea with almost flawless transitions between animations & awesome visuals, it REALLY falls short as a game. Where everyone was getting all hyped & getting horny over Jade as Ubisoft marketed her in dev dairies to interviews, they overlooked the core mechanics of the game itself. Whats even more sad is that this game flew off shelves like Bioshock, which makes me wonder... will they actually realize their mistakes and take advantage of the massive potential this game has and deliver a killer sequel? or will they just milk this new franchise the way it was cuz they still can sell it like hot cakes!

Anyways, before I piss Assassin's creed fanboys off, I guess all I can say is that there have been tons of games to play this year. So much so that I couldnt even get to all of them yet. All this made me realize that as a game developer you cant be satisfied with whats out there. As much as I love games that entertain me, you cant win game of the year or gamers by using old formulas. You cant argue over the fact that new ideas, stories, mechanics etc executed properly creates a AAA title. That is why Portal is proof of how such a simple/short game with great writing can be so memorable. Why games like Gears of War kicks ass of every shooter out there even after a year of its release cuz it does has the ingredients of a AAA title.

So to end my rant, all I gotta say is its easier to rant than to actually do it. Game development has a lot of things involved and those who churn out great games deserve our respect. Heck, even Jade & her team deserves props for taking risks to bring new things to the table.

Can I take a HIATUS from HIATUS???

2008-01-02T10:27:00.001+08:00

Nope the blog aint dead! HAPPY NEW YEAR to the 3 people who actually bothers reads my rants! Anyways, I was just away overseas for a while and with all the holiday fever, was busy with my shit! But for some reason, I feel I STILL need a long vacation where I can just relax and sleep until I get sick of it.

As I said on a few posts back, I was gonna be broke from all the games to play? Well for your info, I AM broke right now and I still havent bought all the titles on my list. If that makes you feel any better. To add acid to injury, I'm getting marriage in July! They say "Save up man! You gonna need money after you get married." but instead they should've said "Save up bitch! Save every fucking penny you earn cuz you gonna be spending all of it JUST to get married!!!"

But hey, its still worth it! Its not like its a runaway marriage. Besides, to those idiots who think marriage is as simple as A-B-C (cuz they are so lonely & desperate), should go and ask their daddy how much of a commitment it takes. And the only time it works is when you are happy making that commitment and not doing it cuz you feel you have to. Anyways, dont take my word for it. If you are a happily married dude, you should know what I'm talking about.

Bottom line... I need a vacation! I need time to catch up with the tons of shrink-wrapped titles that made me broke and I need to hit the jackpot in a lottery so that I can get through this marriage without going bankrupt!!!

Wii bit of trouble!

2007-12-13T10:49:00.001+08:00

I always did feel that playing Wii makes a guy look gay, but I didnt know it could make you look like a hot female dog...

which is the right way?

2007-12-03T15:20:00.001+08:00

Its been a while since I posted. Been busy with work and moving house. and DAMN, the rental for houses are high here in Singapore!!! The reason is due to supply being outstripped by demand by God knows who! Plus, who's fucking lameass joke of an idea was it to decide to try to make this country's population any higher than it is right now? I bet they never went out on orchard road or vivo city on weekends. Dumbass! The lucky bastards who have a house of their own better appreciate that they have a roof over their head. Not to forget the free meals!

Anyways, lets get to the point...I've been wondering lately how game development works in different parts of the world. As far as my knowledge tells me, the most successful games over the decades have come from Japan. Heck, almost all the franchises that I love have originated from Japan. However, there are those numerous studios that are stuck in the past. Not everyone is Nintendo, SCEJ, Capcom or Konami.

Then again, on the other side, there are those great guys at Blizzard, Activision, Bethesda, SCEA, Epic so on and so forth. So all this got me thinking what makes these guys tick? From what I know, their ways of working & attitude of game development is totally different. What gives Japanese developers the edge? Then again, having great working enviroments in the U.S is what brought up the recent Dev teams in the west.

Obviously, the guys in the east have more creative minds than the west. But they are more strict and more by-the-book. So you'll see a lot of the single man army in the east like Miyamoto and Kojima. Its a great thing to have when it comes to having your studio outshine others. But if you loose that one man army for some reason, you are screwed. Also, if the genius screws up for some reason, then the whole company is screwed.

The other side however has more of a give and take philosophy. Probably because they need more ideas on the table or maybe also cuz they have a more open mindset to share ideas/resources among other developers (not trade secrets, but general toolsets). Insomniac is a great example where even someone from the finance department can have a say in game ideas/feedback. Its a great thing when you have so many ideas to choose from, however, you need a leader to take and throw away whats there in order to make a good game.

Lets not forget our European fellow devs. Those guys are bit of a mix of both. But there arent many big studios yet, but there those rising stars like Ninja theory, Guerilla Games, and Media Molecule. We'll have to see how their games turn out and how they work to get a better idea. But lets just consider them more to the western side. Plus, I'm not much familiar with their working philosophy to comment on it.

Both sides has its pros and cons, and they both have corporate influence and bullshit to deal with. But if you ask me to form the perfect studio, I'd take the minds of the Japs and have them be more open minded to ideas/feedback. You need a leader and you also need feedback/ideas in front of you. Afterall, not everything new a genius can cook up will taste good every single time.

And most most most importantly....and i stress MOST importantly, you need feedback from the people you are gonna sell the game to. And thats gamers. Yes, play-test the hell out of your game, baby! If you are in the creative industry, you'll know that once you work on your own project for a period of time, you loose the sight to pick the problems that are there. You are looking at the same thing day in and day out and you need someone from the outside to look at it and tell you whats wrong/right. So who better to tell you than those who will be whacking your games?

I'm no guru, expert or genius, but as time goes by, these questions pop up that I try to answer and figure out myself. In the end, no matter what mixes in my head, it doesnt change the fact that game development is a very tough thing to do and no matter how shitty a game is, the developers behind it still gets my respects! As I said before, its an entertainment medium, but its no more that addictive "time wasting" hobby that your parents try to keep you away from when you were growing up!

3DCREATURE forums live!

2007-11-26T17:32:00.000+08:00

Its a new forum recently setup by my friend Dominic Qwek. I'm also grateful to say that I'm one of the moderators there. Its mainly to build a strong community of CG artists or people who just loves games and CG! But its also important to have fun creating that community of people who can inspire each other. So head on over!!!

Remember, remember...the month of Novemeber!

2007-11-12T14:20:00.001+08:00

Guitar Hero 3
Ratchet & Clank Future
Gears of War
Unreal Tournament III
Assassin's Creed
Uncharted
Rockband
Mario Galaxy
Rayman Raving Rabbits 2

Total cost of gaming = $$$$

Doesnt fucking matter! Cuz I cant afford them all this month. Luckily, the month of December is bleak, so my pockets wont take more pounding. Even then, I'm broke already as I type this. Kind donations anyone?

Thou shall look at games like no other

2007-11-10T14:24:00.001+08:00

Just realized that looking at games from the perspective of someone involved in game development is different from your average joe or even the average gamer. When you know "some" of the things that go behind the making a game, you get a great deal of respect for those involved in game development. Trust me (eventhough I'm no expert) when I say that it is VERY VERY TOUGH making a game!!!

I never knew much about what behind making a game until I got this job. I was that gamer who just played 'em as they came. But now, I stop and look at every game I play to appreciate what went behind it. Whether its the CG aspects or the design aspects, it just "WOW"s me how much creative genius can go behind a game. From games like Bioshock to Ratchet Future to Metroid, they all just reek creativity and innovation. But funny thing is, its only now that I realized that I'm looking at games this way. Makes me realize how ignorant I was to one of my favorite hobbies and how this is now so related to my career interest.

So gamers...before you go out to bitch, give the devs a bit of a slack! Speaking of devs taking the heat, I cant imagine people getting so worked up about the "region locking" bug in the Uncharted Demo. I mean... WTF! The demo just doesnt work on non-American machines and now that makes the demo purposefully "region-locked"??? Heck they even went on to fix the bug and re-release the freaking demo so that our pathetic nerdy whinny asses could play it.

Anyways, I think better get back to my game whacking and try to appreciate the blood, sweat & tears the devs put in for our fun and entertainment.

Well well well...what do we have here?

2007-11-01T14:18:00.002+08:00

Hmmm.... she looks like a mommy & she probably is one! But she's one of my favorite writers of all time. If you are one of the few people who know the story of the Legacy of Kain series, you'll admit that its one of the best stories in a game yet! Dont worry, Kojima-san...you are still at the top!

If you are still clueless to what the Legacy of Kain series is. Go to the Dark Chronicle site and find out about this awesome universe that she's created. You don't even have to play the games. You can just read through the game story/script and you'll get engrossed!

People like me who are already a fan of the series probably want another sequel but unfortunately, the team at Crystal Dynamics (the devs) no longer exists. And I was surprised to know that she's now at Naughty Dog as a Game Director. Thats right! She's the director of the upcoming Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

My anticipation for the game has just gone through the roof! Not only do the cutscenes look more "cleaned up" than heavenly sword, it has its own quirky style to it. The gameplay looks good as it always did but I'd have to criticize the in-game animation a bit. But heck, that's not a big issue at all. I know that the script and direction of the game will be fantastic, but it will also be my chance to see how well she can pull off her first game. And today, after seeing the 1st 10 mins of it, I'm absolutely sold. Cant wait for the demo next week and release on the November 19th. Bring it on, Amy!!!

FLAWLESS Victory!!!

2007-10-24T17:32:00.001+08:00

There's nothing perfect in this world as we all know and that same theory applies to games. No matter how much fun a game is, it will definitely have some flaws. Now the big question is... whether those issues should keep a game from being given a PERFECT score? Or giving a game perfect score makes pointing out those issues meaningless cuz some may take it by looking at the final score, that the game has no issues at all and it really IS perfect.

Speaking of perfect scores, there are a fair share of games recently that have been getting them, mainly Bioshock! After going through the game, I must say it IS a great game, but in no way deserving of "game of the year" award. It does deserve an award for its "art direction" and story. The whole game felt immersive and some pretty good story build up near the end. However, the game get minus points from me in terms of gameplay design and constant draggy "fetch quests" in the middle. Also, the final boss is a pushover and the ending was like "WTF!?! I played 20 hours to get a 30 second CG ending???" Yes, there's a lot of choices of gameplay to tackle each situation, but i could basically finish the game by electrocuting the enemies and whacking them with the wrench. It doesnt give me more motivation enough to upgrade much of my weapons other than my shotgun and grenade launcher. When you have many types of weapons in your game, its hard to balance them in such a way that you dont end up using only a couple of the lot to play through the game. Ratchet & Clank Size Matters did a very good job in that department. Although, there were maybe a couple of weapons I didnt end up using at all, I had to use MOST of the weapons to actually get through the different situations.

Then there's the "telling the whole story through audio tapes" thing. At the beginning, It feels great to get details of the world through them, but gets a bit old after a while. And the off-timed subtitles dont really help! There were different gameplay elements that could've been designed to work better and the presentation of the story could use some extra touches. Even then, I'd say its atleast a mininmum deserving of 85% overall. Me picking on it doesnt make me a professional game reviewer, but I'm just using it as an example for how game hype can get the so called "pros" to overrate a game.

Yes, it is RETARDED to give a game a perfect score!!! *cough cough* EGM *cough cough* If there IS a perfect game that has flawless game design, no technical issues at all, and maybe issues that only come up due to people's tastes, its only then a "professional" journalist can give a perfect score! Even if I'm the biggest fan of say, MGS, I wouldnt just go all excited and give it a perfect score with my eyes closed. When I see a perfect score, all I see is some little kid who got erected with all the hype around the game and gave it a perfect score and too turned on to think of its flaws (even if they are small). Lack of professionalism is another way of seeing it.

Having said that, the opposite is also retarded. One fine example would be the EDGE game mag. Call me illiterate if you want, but I dont understand HALF the crap they type in their reviews and the crappy scores they give to games really makes feel some literature writer is behind the monitor typing those reviews rather than a gamer who loves games!

So the next time you read a review, dont become all serious, if they are harsh on your most anticipated game. So sometimes just dont give a shit about them either cuz afterall, they are just O-P-I-N-I-O-N-S!!! But ofcourse, we all want to know what a game is like from the pros. There are only a handful of gaming sites that have the balance between an excited gamer and a rational journalist. But mostly, are just ammatures and not professional enough to give an unbiased review/preview of a game. They just had enough money to open up a blog/site and call themselves "pros". As a gamer who actually wants to know how a game is before he buys one, all I gotta say to a game journalist nowadays is that dont let your gaming excitement get in the way of you reviewing a game so that you dont end up talking out of your ass! Would really appreciate that. Thank you!

Berries 'n Cream

2007-10-22T20:13:00.001+08:00

Not really game related, but I found this ad while watching some videos on IGN. At first its irritating as hell, but as I watched over n over again, I found it freaking hillarious!

This is the making of...sort of!

End result = me using sound clips from the commercial as my message & ringtone!

Should I give a SHIT?

2007-10-22T09:55:00.001+08:00

After all the ordeal that has happened, I've come to realize that I dont give a shit anymore about all this gaming fanboyism, the big 3s or any other crap that doesnt need attention. Plus, my health also detoriated a while back and thus I need to get back to tiptop condition again. As my dad used to say, "When your health goes down, everything else goes down with it!" So I guess I'm not the person you would say likes to stab himself with a knife, bang his head against the wall or jump of a building.

Speaking of health, I havent played any games in more than 3 weeks. Makes me feel healthier in some sense being away from a TV/monitor on my week long vacation in Indonesia. And gaming is not the top of my priorities right now. Plus I still have a cockroach roaming around in my life. You know, its like the feeling of irritation you'd feel if someone took a live cockroach and put it inside the back of your shirt! You wanna get rid of it asap, but it just keeps crawling around.

No one needs to know whether the cockroach had a miserable life, got run over by a car or has a hard time seeing others happier than itself. There's a lot of people in this world who cant even get 3 meals a day and dont have a home to live in. Atleast it has all that. So I say...Seriously, if your pussy hurts, just get some VAGISIL! If it cant survive in this world by itself without irritating the hell out of people, then it should've been swallowed at birth. Cockroaches only think of themselves, and they'll do anything to get what they want whether its scavanging or destroying. I guess God does have a reason to create cockroaches. They are fun to SQUISH! Its the kind of satisfaction you get when you chainsaw someone in Gears multiplayer.

You might be wondering what the hell I'm talking about or what happened in my life recently? Or who is this cockroach I keep talking about? Lets just say I was able to get my shit together, go on a well deserved vacation with my wife and now I'm back in action. Sorry but I guess I'm not gay or pussy enough to type down all my personal life on this blog to make people feel sorry for me!

Shit happens in life and maybe I shouldnt give a rat's ass about the aftermath. I've got better things to do like getting back to my work to earn my bread n butter!

Where the hell have I been?

2007-10-10T09:23:00.001+08:00

Sorry guys, that I was gone for a while. There was some crap I had to deal with. Not that it was something that made me wet myself, but it was one hell of a headache. But now thats out of the way, I come to find myself a handful.

Now let's see... October and November are supposed to be some big months for games. Guitar Hero 3, Rockband, Ratchet & Clank Future, The Orange Box, UT3 and so on and so forth. But right now I'm really broke! I havent even touched Folklore. In fact, I havent played much games in the last 3 weeks. Now thats a new one, isnt it?

Anyways, there have been some news like Bungie & M$ splitting up, UT3 getting delayed on the PS3, Monster Hunter 3 going to the Wii (well done Sony), new PS3 SKU announced and PSP slim selling like hotcakes! Then there's the TGS, which I wish I could go to, but not this year I guess. I'm trying to save up and buy all these games at the same time, which aint easy when you have bought a DS and plan on getting a PSP slim AND a new Wii . Yeah, I'm gonna be one broke bastard.

I do sound a bit out of place dont I? Hmmm...I need a holiday, which is exactly what I'm gonna do this weekend. I will be back with my mind renewed and crazy for games as usual...only this time, there are other priorities in my life than just playing the hell out of games. But dont worry, I will keep ranting and share what my brain has to every once or twice a week. So do keep coming back!

Today we learnt something!

2007-09-19T10:36:00.001+08:00

Sad to say, I didnt get to play much of Nintendo's games growing up! A bit of Mario on the NES, Donkey Kong, Kirby on the Gameboy and.... nothing much! Honestly, I havent been a big nintendo fan cuz I never got to play most of their great games. However, recently after checking out the Metroid series retrospective over at Gametrailers I must say I'm really really impressed with what they have done over the years with the series.

I cant pass judgement on the games themselves, I did realize that they always evolved the game over time and introduced a lot of elements of which some were industry-first at that time. Although Nintendo's flourish happened before I even reached puberty, I can get a feel of how they brought the game industry to life back in the 80s. I also get the feeling that they dont have a flare as much now that they did back then, due to the "lesser" number of great titles. Although they are aiming for the casual market, which is good for the industry, does give the hardcore gamers a bad mood. But yeah, Nintendo does deserve the respect wrapped around its name and when you look at their "key" titles over the past years, it shows!

On the other hand, Microsoft as always keeps the cash flowing trying to buy PS3 exclusives. Although I feel disgusted at Microsoft's business strategies, I must say Sony could learn a thing or two from them. Just look at Ninja Gaiden 2. M$ jumps in the moment they realize Tecmo is probably planning to release the sequel on the PS3 since they released Sigma exclusively on Sony's platform. Now M$ is publishing the game and that makes the sequel exclusive for good. Unless, Tecmo decides to rename the sequel as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 or Ninja Gaiden Alpha or whatnot. Although the PS3 will get its fair share of exclusives from third party especially some being announced at TGS today, I feel the case with Ninja Gaiden is a slap in the face of people like me who doesnt want to own a 36o. Its like Tecmo saying "Here you go, Ninja Gaiden Black on the PS3 so you keep hoping that NG2 comes to the PS3 also. But nah, we'll let M$ publish it!"

How about Sony go to tecmo and decide to publish the sequel for Sigma? Now that would be cool! If that doesnt happen, which most likely wont, then I just hope M$ releases a more stable 360 SKU before Ninja Gaiden is released! Because unlike fanboys, I'm might just go crazy and end up buying a 360 JUST to play the best action game ever made!

Is my kid gonna be the luckiest in the world?

2007-09-14T14:48:00.001+08:00

I'm asking the question to those people who havent married or havent had kids yet. Did you ever wonder how cool it would be for them to know that their daddy is a freaking game addict? They dont even have to ask for consoles as presents or whatnot. They wont have to save up their lunch money to buy their next game/console they wanna buy. Thats right! Daddy's gonna bring home all the games the kid could want! He/she will be in a freaking dreamland and will be bragging rights in school saying "my daddy is the coolest! he plays games with me!" and the other kids will be like "woah! thats awesome!!!"

But that doesnt mean I'm gonna let my kids chainsaw me in half in games like gears of war. No way am I gonna let them play games out of their age. Nowadays, games like manhunt, god of war or gears etc can really fuck your kid's brain up. Speaking of which, its sad that Singapore, being a "gaming hub" doesnt have proper game rating systems implemented. Last time, you could see little kids playing Gears on 360 kiosks openly. Anyone can buy games off shelves without any age restrictions. You get my drift!

Speaking of kids/family... Honey, if you are reading this...dont worry, our kids will be the luckiest kids in the world and they can watch all the anime and play all the games we can afford. Ofcourse provided they are SMART kids who study hard and not end up "TEE DEE DEE!" Meaning they have to get their "achievements" in order to earn their playtime with mommy and daddy. Baby, you should know that I love you like there IS a tomorrow. And just so you know...everything I do, I do so that I can see myself the next day with you right by my side. Its not about me being happy or you being happy. To me, its about US being happy together in whatever we are doing and that includes our future kids. So there!

Sorry for the mushy part there guys! Its just a shoutout to my wife. You can take some relationship advice from there if you like lol! Anyways, what do you guys think? Have you ever thought about how your kids are gonna feel about you whacking games? And if you are one of those who never played games... get the fuck outta here! You are reading the wrong blog!! Bye!!!

Its a CRYSIS indeed!

2007-09-08T22:46:00.001+08:00

I went to the Games Convention last friday. Although the show wasnt as bad as I had expected, it was dissapointing in some aspects. Especially the lack of hands on with upcoming games. Where's the Rock Band, Ratchet, Uncharted, Mass Effect etc? All they give out are some goody bags from Asiasoft, and put up underage booth babes to attract pedophiles. The lucklaster Maxsoft booth could even do with that sad excuse of a game called "Wii Fit" if you ask me.

Its sad that its a games convention with so much lack of upcoming games. Although there were a few such as...I got to play a bit of NFS Pro Street in EAs booth. I could've enjoyed it more if the 360 Elite they were running it on, didnt keep freezing! Speaking of EA, it was a pleasant surprise to see a mini CRYSIS booth. Yeah, a pleasant surprise at first, but when I approached the PCs running the game... that quickly turned to shock horror! Crysis looked like the original half life 1. I was like WTF!!! They wanna boast, Crysis as a ultra realistic looking shooter to date with all their Cry Engine, but they decide to run it on crappy machines??? Actually there was only one PC running with the other 2 "OUT OF ORDER". Every single setting was on "LOW" and it was running at 640X480 res. Even then the framerate was suffering!

Thats not the main part of my horror. Just out of curiousity, I asked my colleague who was with me to check the system specs of the PC and this is what we saw:

Intel Dual Core 2.8GHz
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS
2GB RAM
Windows Vista DirectX 10

Now thats some really fucked up shit! You are telling me, the recent PC I bought with the 8800 GTS, the 2GB ram, and 2.67Ghz Dual Core cant even run Crysis on LOW settings??? If thats the case, then wtf is so good about the Cry Engine? Any engine can pull that kinda shit off if you have a super powered PC to run it on. I thought the engine would be something like the Unreal Engine, where it could give you awesome visuals at even mid ranged machines.

They spend so much time and money to make the best looking game to date only to sell it to the 3 people in the world who has a PC that can run it? How fucking sad is that? Even then I'm gonna be optimistic! Lets say, what they showed was some very very very very early build of the game and the engine has not been optimised yet. But then again, considering they had a trailer running just above those PCs showing the FULL graphical capability of Crysis and expecting people to buy into their bull crap, I cant help but think that I wont be able to play this game atleast in the next 5 years! Crysis indeed!!!

UPDATE: here's the link to nvidia's site to compare where 8600 GTS stands http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce8.html

Although its a mid-range card, I am not sure whether they had dual or a single cards running.

Just gimme games!

2007-08-31T10:19:00.001+08:00

Lemme tell you a story of this guy who loved games since he laid eyes on them for the first time in his life. Problem was, he was one broke kid. Living in a country where the average monthly income of an educated person is US$50, you can guess how UN-affordable games, consoles could be over there. Game consoles were for rich kids but then he begged/pleaded/earned for his consoles. He literally got his PS2 as "payment" for months of part-time work. Being a third world country, you couldnt even FIND original games there. Everything was *ahem* versions. So with the choice of buying only ONE console every generation, he obviously went with the PS brands after the times of Nintendo and Sega systems.

So finally when he grew up, went overseas to study and then finally landed his first real fulltime job, he could now AFFORD games and consoles. He could support and enjoy what gaming has to offer fully. All he now wants to do is play games. It doesnt matter which company it is from, as long its a game of his taste, he'll play it. But ofcourse, out of all the console wars and all that jazz he'd want the PS brand to succeed cuz thats what he got to enjoy most of his life, but that makes him a fanboy? I dunno, you tell me!

Whats the point of the story? Its that games are games and as a gamer, we just need to enjoy them. We all have one little "fan" inside each of us loving the company that gave us MOST of the games we like. One thing we should realize is that the more competition involved in the console wars, the more do each companies have to push themselves to create higher quality games. In the end, those of us who love games will get what we always want...quality games!

Having said that, the way the media and fanboys fuel hatred over their opposing consoles, is not really healthy. IF for some reason, a console dies out, it will eventually hurt the industry. As much as I hate microsoft, I dont want the 360 to die out cuz I never said, I hate the games on the 360. In fact, I love games more than I hate M$, so I might even get a 360 again one day. I'm gonna play the "M$ exclusive" games on my PC now, arent I? Also, if it weren't for the quality of XBL, Sony and Nintendo wouldn't be pushing online gaming forward as much. Although I wouldnt want Bill Gates to be the market leader, I'd definitely want all the big THREEs to be always there and then somemore. Afterall, just gimme games, and I'm one happy gamer!

Uhhh...duhhh... i are adding math!

2007-08-28T16:07:00.001+08:00

Its human nature to bitch. But for crying out loud, dont bitch when other's are overcoming your hurdles. You know what makes it makes you look like when you do that? A JACKASS!!! If you REALLY are gonna bitch then atleast have the balls to come up with a solution to your problem otherwise shut your hole and deal with it.

I'm not a programming expert, but when developers come out and say the PS3 is hard to program for and it has "horrible" programming tools, it does sound like bitching. But it also makes them look like a bunch of lazy idiots when other developers have said its "challenging" but they managed to deliver a great game. If its a multiplatform game, then I wont count those big companies who do half-assed ports *cough cough* Ubisoft *cough cough*.

But ofcourse, when the 360 is so easy to program for (it being a PC) one wonders why go the extra mile for the PS3? Ask those who make exclusive games for it. Now people bitch about it more cuz last time when the PS2 faced the same crticism, there was no Xbox to add salt to the injury. Heck, I even might be talking about my ass about this issue, but I'm judging as a person who might have the slightest common sense!

On the other hand, we have gamers who bitch. Those who bitch, why does this game have so few levels? Why not enough weapons? blah blah blah. I will agree with them if the gameplay doesnt have enough depth you end up wanting more variety. But adding levels, weapons or whatsoever requires planning and needs further assurance of game balance. You cant just go ahead and model a new level just for the sake of content. There's also the factor of budget and release schedule.

Same goes for games that focus on the single player aspect of a game and skip on the multiplayer or vice versa. I dunno what the fuck is wrong with some people about having some fetish of online multiplayer. They consider a game without online multiplayer is "half -baked" or "incomplete". If you have dire needs of getting owned by people online, then go ahead and play your multiplayer games only, but dont BITCH about great single player games not having multiplayer. Some of them went as far as to start a rumor about the upcoming Heavenly Sword having multiplayer. Ooooh, I wonder how that work?

We can always do with more content, but games being hours of interactive entertaiment, I'd say we are getting a hell of a deal at the prices we pay. For downloadable mini games where the prices are low and obviously the content cant be expected to be as much as a full retail game. So the "more" content needed in a game is determined by the game design and price of the game itself. So before you bitch, do the MATH!

SONY - Soon Or Not Yet

2007-08-22T11:05:00.001+08:00

Finally, my favourite company. I wont deny it! Call me a fanboy or whatever the fuck you want, but I dont give a shit! Heck, even Xbox fanboys were playing PS1 before they got their black box from Bill Gates. No one can deny that the PS brand pushed the gaming industry's popularity to what it is today and gave us some great franchises such as MGS and DMC!

But recently they've been taking a lot of heat for their expensive PS3 and lack of games. Wonder why? Actually, it is their fault and the fucked up media/haters arent really helping. Since Sony literally trashed the competition in the past two generations, there are bound to be hater's waiting for their chance to bash Sony. So now is their chance! Guess what, I'm also gonna do some bashing!!!

Some say, price is the biggest issue, but I dont think so! Considering what you get out of the box, this machine is worth EVERY cent! However, you cant justify the price of a gaming console without games. Thats where Sony deserves a kick in the ass! Where the hell are my EXCLUSIVES??? The number exclusives that has gone multiplatform truly is sad, but even then, it wouldn't be a big issue if Sony would deliever us the new IPs ASAP! Personally, I feel games like DMC, RE are already known and we have played them to death, but if Sony could just push out their 1st party IPs like Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Uncharted, Ratchet earlier, then no one could bitch about the PS3's price. Cuz those games alone are more than enough to keep a gamer happy! Although software titles are coming, people are just loosing their patience. While some of us are watching Blu-ray movies, some are playing hours of oblivion (like me), and some are just collecting dust!

Sony did have a good E3 and exclusive (whether timed or permanent) games like MGS4, UT3, FFXIII, Killzone 2 and Little Big Planet easily outmatches anything else on other systems. On the other hand, the firmware updates, HOME and PlayStation store is slowly improving with content. At this pace, things do look good for them. BUT all these things cant come soon enough! In other words, FIX the butt-ugly PS store layout, get your asses up and deliver on your promises! I for one is looking forward to your shit, so dont dissapoint me, you get-rich-with-my-money-market-leading bastards!!!

Wii love nintendo! waggle waggle scribble scribble

2007-08-20T10:17:00.001+08:00

The company that revived the video game industry in the 80s has now turned into a money making factory. However, in the process they are forgetting people like me. They are forgetting us who actually love games and we grew up playing mario bros and donkey kong. When they say "we want to appeal to the broader market" seems more like "we are making enough money with this gimmicky toy, so now you hardcore fans can kiss our ass. But dont worry, we'll give you the occasional great titles like we did in the gamecube era".

"Oh look! Its Wii sports, a game that has you swing around the Wiimote and whether you win or loose depends on pure random luck. A sports game where you cant even control player movements is REAL innovation! Then we have the weight balancing board which helps you workout at home. It comes with a software that tells you what to do and guess what, its a true next generation game! So that means it's price is like a full priced game should be. Plus, you get to pay for plastic which are really accessories for the Wii to make the experience even MORE immersive! Who needs graphics? Gameplay RULES!!! "

Having said all that crap, there are lotsa people out there who like casual games for kiddies and girls. And a lot of people who havent really played games before are now picking up the Wii like hot cakes. To be honest, it IS good for our industry since it helps reach out to more people. So I give you props for that Nintendo. However, after a few years when this so called "next gen system" hardware gets outdated and the now casual players want something more than some collection of mini-games, what will you do? You cant milk the cash-cow forever now, can you? If you keep milking and at some point when the milk dries out, you'll only be squeezing out yellow rotten puss. Excuse my gross-ness.

Anyways, I'm not a big fan of "interactive" gameplay since I believe physical interactivity is really something cool if it needs me to perform the EXACT movements of the game character rather than waggling around some remote. Otherwise, I'd rather play my games sitting back on my couch, gather fats around my waist, knowing that every single movement of my thumbs is making the characters/things on screen move at pinpoint accuracy.

All I am saying is, gimme some ACTUAL games to play (e.g Mario Galaxy, Smash Brothers Brawl etc), make proper use of the motion controls and make a hardware that will actually allow third party developers to actually make unique games for the system. Yes, Nintendo LACKS games on the Wii just like the PS3, but no one is complaining cuz their system is cheap and Wii love nintendo!

Do I need a Xbox 360? Nope!

2007-08-14T15:45:00.001+08:00

"Fucking fanboy" might be the first words in your mind right now if you own a 360. Dont get me wrong. I did have one as long as it lasted and there are games on it that I really wanna play. The upcoming Mass Effect looks great. I already played Gears to death (best shooter ever). and I plan to get the PC version when it comes out. Heck, I'm even upgrading my PC so I can play it.

Which brings me to the fact that I never liked Microsoft (M$) and their policies of handling their customers and the way they screw them over. How? Well, let me use Gears as an example since I already mentioned how much I love the game. The PC version out this Novemember gets ALL the mulitplayer maps the 360 owners paid for, for FREE! And to add insult to injury, 5 extra single player missions AND more multiplayer maps will be included. Guess what, 360 owners wont be getting them even as a payable download.

On the hardware side of the 360, there was the Core & Premium, then they announced that they are gonna introduce a new model with quieter and better chipsets that prevent our 360s from breaking down as often as every 3 months (yes, thats how often they can breakdown here in the Asia region). But NOOOOO....they went on to introduce the Elite WITHOUT the new chipsets. IMO the Elite is just to counter how the PS3 looks more slicker than the 360 visually, to fill the lack of an HDMI port and to overtake the PS3s 60GB HDD space . Not only that, they even scew over current 360 owners by asking them to spend over SG$250 for extra 120GB. It doesnt end there. Now there are gonna be new SKUs of Premium WITH HDMI. And oh here's the best part... there might be games (such as COD4, GTA4) in the future which require a HDD to play. So if you are a core system owner, its like M$ saying "Poor you!" WTF?!?!

Now if I wanna buy a 360, which one should I get? Pay the extra SG$200 for a black 360 with 120Gb HDD? or get the the Premium to save the money? or should I just get the Core, which is cheapest of them all and then ADD the 120GB HDD to it? But wait, NONE of these SKUs have the new chipset! So I say SCREW it!!! I might as well spend the money upgrading my PC so I can play all those so called "exclusives" such as Bioshock, Alan Wake on my PC in the next year or so. I need to get a new one anyway since my CPU just died yesterday.

You must be thinking "What about Ace Combat 6? Beautful Katamari? Eternal Sonata? Blue Dragon? Mass Effect? Too Human?" Ace Combat 6 is definitely a game I wanna play, but I'll just wait for the PS3 version. I also like Katamari, but I dont think a 360 is worth buying to play the same PS2 game with just online added. As for ET and BD, I HATE turn based RPGs. If I wanna play good RPGs like those two, I can just play tons of them on my PS2. Mass Effect is gonna be great, but I think I can wait for the PC version. Too Human looks like a shameless rip off of DMC and only God knows when its coming out due to the law suite involving Epic.

"Hey what about achievements and gamerscores?" I say, those can kiss my HAIRY ass! I probably might give a shit about "trophies" in HOME if they really are implemented properly.

To be honest, I wanted a 360, and even had one, but I realized that unless M$ fixes its customer treatment policies and releases an SKU which doesnt die on me before I can even finish a game, then I'll definitely get myself a 360 someday, but until then, I think I'll enjoy all the multiplatform games and 1st party games from the big 3s on the PS3, Wii, and my new PC.

Maybe if I was a rich bastard and loved shooters more than anything else, then I'd probably deal with M$'s shit, but as someone who's been playing games since Atari 2600 and can't "grow money", I cant stand this kind of bullcrap! Dont worry Nintendo fans, your favourite company is up next!

This is what you get for bothering to come and take a look...

2007-08-12T17:07:00.001+08:00

I'm just your non-average ordinary guy who likes to play games and has a love for animation. I'm not very skilled either, but I like what I do for a living and that drove me to realize I appreciate games a lot more than I used to. Games are not those things anymore where our parents can say they are "addictive" (maybe a little) and a waste of time (when was having fun NOT a waste of time). I will rant about that issue later. So as I was saying...

I get my bread 'n butter as an animator in a reputable Japanese game company. More like reputable for making games where you get to mindlessly whack the crap out of thousands of enemies at once. If you play games, you probably know what I'm talking about. Anyways, my life right now, is all about playing good games, improving my animation and getting some sort of idea how games can be "fun".

Now that I mentioned it, I'm not sure whether to feel touched that you cared to read this or feel sorry that you have nothing better to do. Nonetheless, do take my rants as it is or with whatever you like cuz I will post anything my brain wants to blurt out. Btw, when I typed "non-average", I didnt mean I'm a know-it-all guy; I am far from it. Words of warning though... I'm not a person who expects everyone to be smiling when I express myself the way I see fit.

By now you're probably starting to love or hate this blog already and you'll be coming back again and again to confirm those feelings. But don't keep them inside...make sure you spam the comments section as retribution, appreciation or whatever the hell you wanna call it!

Need to get back into Oblivion now. See ya around.