Archive Page 2

07
Oct

Star Wars: The Force Unleased PSP Review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, PSP and Reviews
Tags: , ,

Its been a while since i written anything. Its been a while since I played a proper console game that I could really get into. I did have a lot of games to try, but since I only had a Wii, PSP and a DS, there was a point of drought in gaming. So, when Star Wars The Force Unleashed came out, I really couldn’t wait to play it. Being a Star Wars fan myself, this is one game that I can’t miss out because of its strong impact in the Star Wars universe. To people who don’t know what Force Unleashed is, this is a multimedia project which involves several formats including video games, books, comics, pen and paper role playing games and more. This was only done years ago with Shadows of the Empire.

The story of the Force Unleashed is set between the events just before Episode IV A New Hope. A Dark Jedi called Starkiller is secretly trained by Darth Vader who he found during the attacks on Kashyyyk, the wookie planet which can also been seen at the near end of Republic Commando. When Starkiller was old enough to finish his training, he is now brought out by Vader to finish all the Jedi who has survived Order 66. The story gets more interested from that point, so why not try the game or get a book or even a comic book to understand more of it.

I was able to get my hands on the PSP version, I haven’t tried the DS version yet. So I really can’t expect very good graphics in comparison to the Xbox360 and the PS3 which the game was really designed for in the first place. Although visually, I was satisfied as long as I don’t compare it to the next gen systems, I should feel fine about it. It was nice to see new environments to play that I haven’t seen in other Star Wars games. Light saber duels worked great too, visually stunning and fun.

The story is great, and very important to get into if you are a Star Wars fan. I suppose it’s just as important as Shadows of the Empire. But I do have problems with the story telling, it seems like it was skipping on a lot of important details. You do feel the sense of how important this is to the Star Wars universe, but then again, you can’t deny the feeling of being left out of it. Which makes me feel that I need to buy a book or a comic book to get the fullfillment. But then again, I haven’t seen any other version yet, except for the PSP.

The camera is a pain. There is no way to directly control it. There were times that I can’t see who or what I’m targeting. It will center itself properly if you stay steady, but that won’t work in large groups of enemies. The controls to move Starkiller seems okay, it takes a while to get used to using all the force powers, although I couldn’t use them all since I was happy enough with the Force Lightning skill. Using the lightsaber doesn’t seem powerful enough, seems like Starkiller is not good in melee combat. But the Force is unusually strong, very strong especially for him that he can even divert a falling Star Destroyer, if he’s that strong, why keep using the lightsaber in the first place? The lightsaber can damage enemies that don’t block, but if the enemies does any blocking, it seems like it takes forever to put them down. But this does encourage the player to use other force powers. The game plays like any traditional action game, but it does mix in a few timed button events, which reminds me that so many games are trying to be follow the success of God of War. The action is cinematic, but after a while it gets very redundant.

I have another problem with the game, it goes back and forth with locations, like I’ve seen it before but why to keep returning. The story does explain a lot, but as a gaming perspective, it just gets dull at some point. Although its good to see that locations do give alternate routes, but it still doesn’t show more variety that it could have been.

The bonuses in the PSP game is nice, I like the challenges and the characters that you can unlock. It even gives you an opportunity to play some parts of the movies you have seen like the desert scene where Luke escapes certain death from being eaten by the Sarlac. Although the Jedi Holocron bonus felt like it should have been more informative than just plain artwork collection. Don’t get me wrong, the game has tons of information by looking at the Database.

Overall, the game was fun, great story, but it always gave me a feeling that there was something missing, in everything. It was fun, but the controls are not perfect. The story was good, but it left a lot of details that I still need another media to fulfill my need. The graphics was good, but I know there is something better out there, which kinda irritates me, then again, what can you expect with the PSP? Would I buy this game or not? Unfortunately we can’t rent this game in our country since its a PSP, but its a game I’d like to play once in a while. I’m enjoying my time to play it all over again. Maybe finishing the game twice or more will be enough to satisfy me, since i haven’t gotten all the force powers yet.

04
Oct

Level Up! Live 2008

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

I just got back from attending Level Up! Live 2008 at the World Trade Center. It was interesting to see the event since it has been years since I actually attended an event by Level Up!. I unfortunately don’t have any pictures to show but I’ll get some later from a few friends of mine. After being through some few events of my own in the past years, I really liked the way Level Up! handled everything here. It was organized, the crowed was very good even though they were many, the booths were interesting to see. Although I have to admit that I stayed mostly at the PlayGround booth because I know most of the people there were from PinoyPS and PinoyXbox communities. I am a member of those but I am not as active as I was years ago.

There were 4 or 5 projectors on top of the entire event, showing basically the same video, it generally shows a lot of Level Up! game trailers which composed of Ragnarok, Perfect World, RF Online and others. They did show a few new upcoming games like Rohan and Hello Kitty Online. The projector also shows the actual event which is why we are here in the first place. There is an international PvP (Player Versus Player) competition, and they actually have several representatives from other countries in the event and personally, it was presented very well.

Although I still have problems with Ragnarok itself, it’s not my favorite and I can’t last playing it. I was suprised to see PvP is like watching cartoons. When they fight… its just a big cloud, and you don’t know what the heck is happening within it. The only thing I see… is a bunch of healing spells spammed all over. At least I can see the flags of the players.

There were several booths, mostly showed a bunch of computer stuff, like hardware, Yahoo Philippines, PlayGround Magazine, Internet services and more, some interesting games that reminds me of small carnivals. What I wanted to get into… was the indoor wall climbing booth. It was about 2 to 3 stories high i think. I wish I could have gotten to do that, but the line was too long and I didn’t have the patience to do that.

I was a bit surprised that I didn’t see a lot of cosplayers (costume players) in the event, considering that most events I have been to has been a bit overwhelming with those kinds of people. It was nice to see that this didn’t focus on that this time around. The event focused on the tournament, and it was presented very professionally and fun at the same time.

Anyway, It was a well organized event. Even though I only stayed in the PlayGround Magazine booth most of the time, I had a good time getting to play a little Rockband 2 on the PinoyXbox booth and some Little Big Planet on the PinoyPS booth.

There is still another day of the event, but I won’t be able to attend the last day because I have to go to the World Cyber Games sometime tomorrow. But if any of you have the time, the PlayGround Magazine booth still has PinoyPS which will demo several games for the PS3, and I think there are still so many scheduled events for the event.

17
Apr

World Cyber Games / Asian Cyber Games 2008 - Guitar Hero III and Virtua Fighter 5

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games

Here’s an update on the World Cyber Games (WCG) / Asian Cyber Games  (ACG)
for 2008. For console gaming, the Philippine team will be looking for
players on the Xbox 360 platform and these are the games:

World Cyber Games 2008 (Germany)

Guitar  Hero III

Asian Cyber Games 2008  (Singapore)

Guitar Hero III
Virtua Fighter 5

WCG  Philippines will be getting 2 players for Guitar Hero III (one  for WCG, another one for ACG), and 1 player for Virtua Fighter  5
(ACG). For Guitar Hero III they will have a competition wherein the
first place winner goes to the WCG (Germany), while the 2nd runner up
goes to ACG (Singapore). For Virtua Fighter 5 there will be a
competition to find the best player to send for the ACG.

There are more details on this subject  over on the official site for WCG  Philippines. There is an announcement  forum thread here with even more details (including the PC games that will be  part of the competition).

Pinoyxbox also has a forum thread on the subject of the WCG / ACG.
If you’d like to meet other Xbox players who are planning to go to the
competition, check  out this Pinoyxbox forum thread.

Dates have been set for the preliminaries. The  preliminary for Guitar Hero 3 begins on MAY 10, 2008.
As for venue and registration details, we have yet to receive word on
those, but we do know that there will be online registration for the
competition. Eliminations will be held in Manila, Davao and Cebu.The  Philippine finals will be held on July 10 -13 at SM Mall of Asia, Pasay  City.
11
Apr

Gameophiliac playing Rockband on Unang Hirit

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

I was invited to demonstrate Harmonix/EA’s RockBand while representing GameHopper on the show called Unang Hirit. It was shown yesterday morning. It was an interesting experience, since on stage it all went wrong. I don’t know if it went well on screen. Hehe.

My group which included Joseph (Vincent Valentine) and Jonathan practiced all night since GMA7 wanted us to play some music on the show. We practiced the music Creep, since it was the easiest music that we could have demonstrated. When we got to the show they wanted us to play a more upbeat tone since Creep seemed too depressing to listen to. We practiced Highway Star in just a few minutes. After getting ready and all, prepared, getting my script to study, just a few minutes before the start of the segment, they changed the plans. We weren’t going to play, we have to teach the hosts to play the game in just a few minutes. Needless to say that they pressed all the buttons, the game hasn’t even started yet. So we prepared the game… set up to PAUSE just before the music starts. I got interviewed on live TV, and as we finished speaking, one of the host trips on the USB cable, which stopped the game, which I immediately repaired by hooking up the cable. Since the hosts were pressing the buttons relentlessly, we had a problem resuming the game, which let to a reset of the music.

Other than that, it went well, I suppose. It took longer than planned, because of the small incident. It was fast and fun. I don’t know if I’ll be going back again, it depends on GMA7. It’s actually my third time being there. The first one was demonstrating Wii Sports last November 2007 and the second was about Wii Boxing after the Manny’s boxing win last month.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a recorder to record everything on TV. I never got to record anything when I was on TV.

06
Apr

Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core PSP review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, PSP and Reviews
Tags: , ,

I played Final Fantasy VII during the PSOne days, but I tasted only a little of it on the console. I did manage to play more of it on the PC version, and even though I wasn’t that impressed with the visuals because of the cutscenes were made for the TV and the PC pixelates them because of the higher resolution, I enjoyed playing FF7. I saw Advent Children too, a better movie because it ties nicely as Final Fantasy movie than Spirits Within. Too bad I missed Dirge of Cerberus and Before Crisis, but from what I hear, it seems like I didn’t miss much. Now Final Fantasy has Crisis Core, this tells the story of Zack, a character which is regularly mentioned in FF7 but you really doesn’t get to play. He plays a big part of the FF7 story line and this is where it clears up how and why things have happened.

I was worried that Square Enix seems like it’s milking everything on FF7, since it was their most popular game in history. Some may argue that FF6 is better (which I do think is true), but since companies are driven by money no one can deny that FF7 brought JRPG to the world. It’s been a long time since a lot of people were waiting for a remake of FF7, since Square Enix is known to make a lot of remakes and re-releases. People have been asking when the proper FF7 remake will will be made. After seeing the Advent Children movie and the PS3 Final Fantasy 7 demo, a lot more people got excited asking “WHEN??????” So far no remakes, only sequels and prequels have been released; there has been Before Crisis, released for the mobile phone, Dirge of Cerberus for the PS2 and Advent Children for the DVD, and now Crisis Core (not in any particular order).

I started the game with a bit of hesitation, not knowing what to expect, but the intro drew me, it reminded me of how Advent Children was such a beauty to look at, not just because of the visual style, but it also reminds you of what you have already seen in FF7 and Advent Children. Even listening to the music is wonderful to listen to because it’s inspired from the original FF7 game. The voice acting in the game is very good, not as good as Metal Gear or No More Heroes, but still it’s one of the better ones.

As the gameplay starts, you do see that this is an action RPG, similar to Kingdom Hearts if your familiar with it. You can move around freely but your actions are a bit limited. You can’t do any button mashing as God of War lets you, but you have to time yourself and let the action work before making another command. Pressing frantically will cancel a previous action if it’s on standby. You won’t be able to control 2 or more characters, you’ll stick with Zack throughout the game, so don’t expect any help from team mates if you’re hoping for it. You can move around by using the analog stick or the d-pad, i like this because i personally hate using the analog stick; I keep on worrying that I may damage the darn thing. The controls to using magic and items are used by pressing an action key, the default is to attack, but other options are accessible by pressing L or R buttons to choose.

One strange thing I saw in this gameplay is the 3 faces and 3 numbers of characters on the upper left. It reminds me of looking at a slot machine. You don’t have any control over it, at first I did have some control but realized that pressing any buttons won’t do any good except damage my PSP. This feature actually triggers limit breaks and summons. It was a strange feeling to add this feature that you don’t really get to control. I was used to playing FF7 and calling out summons at your own leisure, you know how important this is at the end of the original FF7. This time around, you have to wait for it to trigger. The numbers will also affect you, if you get three 7’s you get a chance to level up. If you’re lucky you can even level up twice in one mission, with certain combinations, your equipped materia can also level up. The slot machine concept seems strange because you don’t control anything on it, it just keeps on spinning and stopping, and you keep on hoping. The “hoping” part is what seemed to work in this favor. As I said, you seem like you are watching a slot machine, and each time you see that 2 images have matched, you get excited to see if you get the chance to see a limit break or even a summon.

This slot machine feature is also helped by how many times you have been with a certain character, although it won’t change the game much because you are driven in a linear story line. The more you meet with the characters, the more chances that limit breaks can happen, and you can also buy materia which can give a better chance to using a limit break. The materia you equip won’t trigger it but it can you can expect the limit break to happen sooner than later.

Attacks are slightly random, but expect it 80% to happen in certain areas. It’s unlikely not to not happen, but it does sometimes. You’ll recognize these areas in enclosed spaces because they are wider than the usual walkway. Open areas are hard to determine so it feels random at times.

The story is very linear, it actually goes directly to the main essence rather than doing a round and about as with the original FF7. I personally enjoyed this because I liked being able to attach to the main character, understanding him more and what he was going through. The cut scenes will drive this game in its heart, the quality is outstanding and it’s presented in ways you know Square Enix does best. My only problem with this is that you can’t skip through them. Watching long cutscenes once is great, but after that moment going straight to a boss fight is not my cup of tea. I would have been okay if I’m sure that I’m going to finish it, but if I die regularly, watching the cutscenes for several minutes over and over is killing some of my enjoyment.

You can do other missions though, if you’re a bit tired of the main story, which there are tons of them to spend your time on. Trust me that it will take you hours just to finish them all. The missions are accessible from the save point, by pressing the menu and status screen. These feel a bit off, but it’s good fun for leveling up, looking for treasures or just killing some time. Don’t overlook this since these missions can actually get you some important items. My problem with this is that you don’t see much, you get tired looking at caves, mountains, plains and more. You play maps over and over and over again and again and again that it gets really tiring to look at. Even though you are given objectives, the common thing you have to do is find the boss of the level and put an end to its misery.

What really worked for this game? The entire feeling of this game really reminds you of Final Fantasy VII; the music, the characters, the story, the summons and so much more. This is one game that did so many things right that wrong. I don’t like the missions, but I can enjoy it once in a while, I don’t like watching long cutscenes when I already seen it 10 times already. Other than that, the game drew me more than what I expected. It’s a fun game, and if you’d think that things are over when done, some gamers would love to see to complete the entire game and what abilities or items they can gather because there are so many that you can’t figure everything out in one try unless you look at a walkthrough.

I enjoyed every minute of this game, even with their faults. This is one PSP game that I can recommend getting without any hesitation. It’s a worthy part of a wonderful story. Play this game and FF7 and watch Advent, you’ll feel like this has been a planned epic trilogy all this time.

05
Apr

Super Smash Brothers Brawl Wii Review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Reviews and Wii
Tags: , ,

Nintendo has been hyping their exclusive fighter for some time now. Especially with Konami’s Metal Gear hero, Snake and Sega’s famous mascot, Sonic. A lot of Nintedo games are excited to get their hands on SSBB, it was a bit hard to relate since I haven’t played any version until this one. What does this appeal to me? Why was I excited? Fortunately I have a Wii and I can rent and borrow games this time around. It makes gaming a lot easier and cheaper. Anyway, I was excited especially with Snake on board and it would be nice to see Mario kicking Snake out of the arena.

As I got try out this game, I immediately got into playing Brawl. Since I just started, I really didn’t have much characters to choose from, but don’t think that it’s very little to choose from, there are a lot of characters. There are several arenas to choose too that resemble other games that you may be or may not be familiar. The locations are so focused on a lot of Nintendo related games that it’s fun to play any of them.

This is not any typical fighting game. It does have its own style and identity. Most fighting games rely on a health bar, the more hits you take and the bar goes lower, once it’s empty you go down. This is not the case in this fighting game, here you rely on how many times you fall down out of the arena. You don’t have a life bar to think about, and any gamer has a fighting chance even if he or she has taken many hits. The thing about this game is that the more hits you take, the bigger the chances you can get thrown out the arena.

Since I’m a new gamer, I played trying out several controllers. It was nice that this game offered many ways to play, from only using a Wii Mote, Wii Mote and a Nunchuk, or a Gamecube controller. You can even configure the controller to any button configuration that you want. Even though it’s difficult to play using a Wii Mote alone, it still works great once you know how to use it. Special moves are simple enough to understand and anyone can easily get into this game.

After playing a few brawls, I tried my hand in playing the SubSpace Emissary which is more like a story mode. The story was light, without any use of words, but it was nice to be able to see pre-rendered cutscenes with so many different characters which made it worthwhile. The levels are also inspired from many Nintendo games, which makes it fun. It was nice to see a more traditional game that doesn’t rely on too much fighting but can also be fun and entertaining. The SubSpace Emissary is a pretty simple side scroller, but your characters have all the abilities of a fighter. The only problem with this mode is at the last part before fighting the last boss, you have to take time to walk around fighting and look for hidden doors.

Playing SubSpace Emissary and playing hours of Brawl can give you a lot of unlockables. Snake, Sonic, Toon Link and more. There are levels, music, artwork, game demos and more. There’s so many reasons why any gamer will enjoy trying to open up these options. You can even unlock the tmie limit on the demos and be able to fully play them.

It alone can give you so many hours of gameplay, and with the addition of online brawl, this gives you more reason to play this game. From online fights or even make your own arenas, this is worth every penny. This is one game I don’t recommend renting, this game is one for keeps. I doubt that you’ll have enough time to enjoy this magnificent game if you just play it a few days. I tell you, hundreds of hours of playing this game is worth while in many ways.

Thanks to Diobrando for lending me a his copy of the game.

04
Apr

NiGHTS: Journey Into Dreams Wii Review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Reviews and Wii
Tags: , , ,

I was excited to hear about NiGHTs Journey Into Dreams ever since it was announced, but I did worry about its timing because the announcement did come when most of Sega’s games are not up to par with what they usually do. I had the chance to play the original NiGHTs into Dreams on the Sega Saturn, it was the time I totally ignored the very successful PlayStation but it was a moment I enjoyed games that stood out that were unnoticed by the masses.

The original NiGHTs was simple and fun, the music was very cheerful, the environments looked amazing and it really gave a sense of flying. It was the first game I really enjoyed using an analog stick. It was perfect since the controls of the game really needed precise 380 degrees of movement. It gave you a good feeling of flying.

I wondered if the new NiGHTs going to be a sequel of sorts or just a remake. A remake wouldn’t be so bad, I actually enjoyed the idea because I want more people to enjoy the game. Well, as it turned out, it was a remake but in a different fashion. They upgraded and added a lot of details. The original game was mysterious, you choose from 2 children and you find them trapped in a nightmare. You control them at the start of each level, and then you try to unleash NiGHTs and fly around to collect rings within a certain time limit. If you don’t reach the time limit you turn back into a child. You never know who NiGHTs was, and all you know that he or she is like helping or guiding you.

In the new version, you immediately start the same way, by choosing from 2 children and you control them in the dreamworld. As soon as you get into the game, you get to talk to NiGHTs and an Owl who explains everything to you. As a fan of the original game, the mystery that made me enjoy the original game seemed lost in this version. In this game, you are made to enter a door, which again you meet NiGHTs and you are confronted with enemies who traps NiGHTs. You are now here to rescue NiGHTs from a cage and release him or her to collect rings and attack your enemies. After some finishing a level you have to fight off the level boss. The old game finishes each level like that, in this version you are still given some missions and a real final boss at the end of each door.

The initial level design is fun to look at and it does remind you of the classic game, although I did have problems with the additional parts of the game. At times it felt unnecessary and it wasn’t as fun as just flying around, although I like the idea of making the game a bit longer since the original was very short to begin with. What I did like is that each new level has something to offer in an interesting way, one level you have to capture Nightopians, one level you have to fly through musical notes and more. I did enjoy a lot of parts of the game, I just didn’t enjoy some parts of it.

The owl that explains everything gets a bit irritating to listen to, it’s just good that you don’t have to listen to it every time. Hearing NiGHTs for the first time is also a bit awkward, since they mystery character seemed lost in translation from the original game. Although I like the music, it did remind me of the classic game at times. I’m not too fond of the music Dreams Dreams though, but it was interesting to listen to it in different versions, the version I liked is when Nightopians were trying to sing to it.

The graphics were subpar in terms of quality; you can always see that it could have been better. The pre-rendered cutscenes were very typical for Sega, but there were a lot more than the original game. What’s make this interesting is that there is an additional segment at the end if you get the real ending. The ingame graphics are not outstanding, it’s merely okay. The details were something you could have expected more of the Wii.

The controls are interesting, but you would actually prefer using a GameCube controller that keeping with the Wii Mote and a Nunchuk. You can can use the Wii Mote alone, but it doesn’t respond properly because you have to point where NiGHTs will fly around and the Wii Mote is not as accurate as you want it to be. Using the Wii Mote and Nunchuk gives a similar control with using the GameCube, but personally, it wasn’t as confortable as using the GameCube. The controls are not as what I expected, what I liked about the Sega Saturn 3D controller is that the 360 movement can be done perfectly which can also be worked out on most consoles these days, my problem with the Nunchuk and GameCube controller is that the analog stick have corners, which mildly locks it’s position for a split second. This makes some moves a bit difficult than the original Sega Saturn version. I also missed making interesting flying patterns, it made sense on the Saturn version since it gives more scores when you are able to perform them, this version though you are not given an opportunity to enjoy them. The controls are also slightly different, when using the GameCube controller, you have given some better advantage in playing around because of some additional controls that are not present when using Wii Mote and Nunchuk.

An additional part of the game is the use of an online mode, which can give you your own dreamworld. The more you play the game, the more things that happen in your world. The weather changes which depends on what it detects on the weather channel. I enjoyed playing around with it for a while, but I did have problems trying to get to another dream of other players, and from what I read online, it does have bugs which actually prevents me to enjoy the online feature.

Overall, the game is pretty fun, if it just kept the good parts. The bad parts are just really bad and you can’t look away. The graphics looks nice, but could have been better. The controls are not as fun to use as the old Saturn controller. The music is nice, but too kiddy at times. The game was make for kids in mind though, but I know a lot of older gamers still do wish for a good remake, since NiGHTs has been like an icon like Sonic but more mysterious. NiGHTs wasn’t justified properly in this game, but I still have to admit that I enjoyed playing it until the end.

27
Mar

Setting Up Multi Monitors (Wallpaper using Web Items)

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

Contributed by Jeremy

Note from Edwin: About the images in this article, I used PRINT SCREEN on the desktop while using 2 monitors, using this command captures the 2 monitor displays as 1 whole desktop.

I currently have a two-monitor setup and have found an alternate method of getting multiple wallpapers across the screens other than pasting them together and worrying about dimensions. As it was described to me, here is the method:

1) set the wallpaper as usual for your main display
(monitor labeled for example only)

2) right-click on the background and select properties

3) from display properties, go to the desktop tab and then to the customize desktop button

4) on the desktop items window, click the web tab

5) from here, click new… and click the browse… button and select a picture you want for one of the other monitors, then hit ok

6) repeat step 5 for as many other monitors as you have - I only had to repeat once

7) you should see the list of web items there, make sure the lock items box is unchecked and all your items are checked


8) click ok on desktop items, then apply and ok on display properties
8a) if your items don’t appear, right-click the background and refresh
8b) if that still isn’t showing them, set the main display’s background to none and you should see them then

9) mouse over the top of the picture(s) now on your background and move it/them to the other monitor(s)

10) click the little down-arrow in the top left of the picture and choose cover desktop, and it should spread across the chosen screen

11) when you’re done positioning the pictures and covering each monitor, right click anywhere on the background, go to arrange icons by, and select lock web items on desktop

And you’re done! It will automatically stretch the pictures to the size of each monitor, so make sure you’re choosing pictures that fit the resolution you’ve chosen on each monitor. If you have any problems with the pictures, just unlock the web items, hit that down arrow and restore the picture, then choose cover desktop again and it should correct itself.
(monitor labeled for example only)

Images come from Disney and Sega’s Nights Journey Into Dreams.
This is a reaction to the article about Multiple Monitors.

21
Mar

PSP Hardware Review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: PSP
Tags: , ,

I know the PSP has been around for a few years now, but it’s only recently when I actually got a unit of my own to judge the system myself. Anyway, this is also a good time to review the system since it has lasted and will it last as Sony wants it to be? This game console has been selling like wildfire here in the Philippines. So far it seems like a best seller and it may be even outselling the DS, Xbox360 or the PS3.

Okay, here’s what the PSP is for me… a big portable media player and it plays games too, even has a bigger screen than the popular iPhone. That’s how it is for me in general. Yeah, the PSP has some outstanding games like God of War Chains of Olympus, Patapon, Crisis Core to name a few. But as I said the first time, this system feels like it was designed to do so many things and gaming seems like it’s just part of it, not the main feature. If it’s supposed to match the Nintendo GameBoy Advance, it has succeeded. If it’s supposed to match the Nintendo DS, then it has something lacking a bit.

There is nothing wrong with PSP in terms of construction, it plays like a good portable system, it’s just a bit bulky than the GBA or even the DS Lite. The GBA and the DS Lite can fit snugly in your pocket, the PSP needs one big pocket or a bag. Although I do have to admit that it has a wonderful build, it doesn’t feel like most gaming systems, it looks and feels expensive and more impressive than the DS. The screen is amazing, it’s like a looking at a big theater screen compared to a GBA or DS. As you watch movies, especially in the dark, it does feel like you’re in a theater. I can really say, if you want to watch portable movies, the PSP is a better way to go than getting yourself an iPhone. The only thing I usually worry about is the analog control… it feels like it may break off. The buttons and the directional pad feel very comfortable, but because of this I usually prefer using the D-pad than the analog controller in this case.

The interface looks okay as long as you are comfortable with the Cross Media Bar menu system.  If you’re not familiar with the menu system, it goes like this; horizontal icons show the main categories like settings, music, pictures, games and more; while vertical icons show the items or files in those categories. This system can work fine as long as you don’t have a long list of files. It can get to be a problem if you have tons of things to look at. This can get a bit inconvenient when playing MP3 files; it’s a good thing that it can also handle playlists. The XMB is also used by the PS3, so if you have seen how the PS3 works, it’s pretty much the same.

The games graphics look good, as a portable system, it is a lot better than looking at the DS’ blocky graphics. Just look at God of War Chains of Olympus, it’s not as good as the PS2 version of GOW but the effects and the smooth visuals can’t be matched with any DS game. So far the best graphics I’ve seen on the DS is the new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Rings of Fate, and even though I was impressed with how it looked, the PSP is still a top leader in graphics in terms of portable consoles.

The onboard speakers are not as loud as I want it to be, but hooking up good earphones can really show off what this handheld really can do. It sounds impressive even with standard earphones and again, you really can’t match hearing this compared to a DS system. Listening to music, watching movies and playing games can be an immersive.

The battery life can be disappointing if it’s compared to the DS. First thing, I like the indicator which it tells you an estimate time of how much long you can use the battery, but this very inaccurate because the time really depends on how much you use the system. Using the UMD, using the Wifi, using 3D graphics, the backlight, speaker volume and other things can really drain the battery faster than the indicator estimates it. The system does show you at 100% which can give an estimate of 6 hours, but it can be even less than 4 hours if you play a lot. So if you plan on travelling with the PSP, make sure you have an outlet to keep playing for hours.

About the games, so far most games that I have tried displayed very well and are responsive enough to the controls. The only thing I have a problem is that some action games like first person shooters don’t do very well here in terms of the controls. The graphics are fine… but the DS has more precise controls than the PSP.  After seeing the Nintendo DS, the DS opened up more possibilities in gaming because of the touch screen, you can play traditional console games with the directional pad, but the DS did what only the PC and PDA systems can do… point and click, which the PSP can’t do precisely with an analog controller. If you haven’t played a first person shooter on a DS, you would be surprised how better a DS can play these games than on a PSP. The DS’ stylus has an edge in terms of innovation; the DS can crank more interesting games than the visually appealing PSP. Interestingly enough, the PSP is coming out with some interesting game concepts like Patapon or Echochrome, not sticking with what works is good, the only problem I see is that there’s not much of it to match DS’ list of games.

What’s great about this system? It’s that you can really appreciate this system once you have a PS3. It’s like the PSP was really designed to be a companion of Sony’s high end console. To achieve this, you will have to set up Remote Play. Remote Play works using Wi-Fi, but you can only set it up by hooking up a USB cable. If you are used to having a PS3, this is a very simple process, but you have to set the PS3 and PSP properly before the setup can be completed. Once this is set up, you can actually turn on the PS3 control, see the menu and hear the sound of the PS3 and turn it off all from the PSP. Through this, you can watch videos, listen music, look at pictures that are all loaded on the PS3, since the PS3 can read FAT32 hard drives, it can be an unlimited amount of media that you can enjoy (not limited to the internal hard drive). If you are fortunate enough to have PSOne games with a similar Region for the PS3, you can enjoy playing PSOne games streaming to your PSP.  If only you can play PS3 games streaming thru your PSP. It’s amazing to see that your handheld console doing graphics that PS3 can only achieve, because it seems technically, it’s possible, the only thing holding this back is that PS3 games uses too much control that the PSP can’t accommodate the game. You can even browse better since the PS3 browser is more impressive than the PSP. I do have some issues with the PSP Remote Play. It seems like the PS3 doesn’t install games thru Wi-Fi, the system recognizes the PSP is not connected; you still have to connect it using a USB connection. It feels like it didn’t make sense since it should be technically possible.

The PSP Slim is a slightly upgraded version of the original PSP. The only major difference that you will notice that it is lighter and the UMD drive is less technical. The Slim version is also different because it can do video output too. Although I don’t see why you can’t do video output through Wi-Fi thru the PS3 since you obviously are going play near a TV. The video output is also questionable because the PSP can only display games on a TV with a progressive scan, unless you can have a TV which can support it, you can only play videos, menu and everything else (not the games). If you have a TV with progressive scan, playing games on the big screen and the graphics can also match graphics of some PS2 games, it is very satisfying.

What I think of the PSP? It’s a technical marvel, it does things I didn’t expect it to do. It’s an amazing media player and an excellent gaming system. Personally, as a media player, I can enjoy this more than looking at an iPhone or an iPod Touch. As a gaming system, it’s very impressive, but there aren’t much games to choose from compared to the library of games the DS has. In terms of gaming, the hardware offers nothing new when it is used alone. But the PSP has an ability to connect to the PS3, which can expand what the PSP can do, but that is something we already have seen with the GameCube with the Gameboy Advance. So, is there anything innovative and new? With games in mind, no, but they did take it to a high tech level. New innovative games will still rely on the game developers’ imagination.

Overall, the PSP is an amazing system. I’m impressed with the overall quality, Sony took everything we knew about game consoles and took it to the next level. In one hand it did achieve its goal as better hand held game console than any other, technically it is. On the other hand it did nothing new to offer new types of games. The PSP as a gaming console feels incomplete, you can only appreciate this if you had tons of media that you can bring or even have a PS3 to store all your media and go to a Wi-Fi café to watch your media from home away from you. It’s an astonishing package, if you think about it, as long as you have enough power to keep it playing.

15
Mar

No More Heroes Wii Review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Reviews and Wii
Tags: , ,

I had no idea what to expect when I heard about No More Heroes. This is a game that is supposed to be radical and extremely violent than what you are used to. It was a surprise that this Xbox360 title shifted to a less powerful Wii, but what attracted the developers was more of the unique control scheme. The trailers show a very unique look, almost similar to Killer 7 (GameCube) but not as dream like.

The game starts immediately teaching you how to play the game with basic attacks using the A or B button, but you’ll use movement gestures to make finishing or heavy blows but these moves will show up on screen before you can use them. You use an electric beam blade that sounds like it came from Star Wars, but other than blade you can use your feet and hands to fight too. Slight gestures can make some slight changes on the fight. Tilting the Wiimote up will make high blows and tilting the Wiimote down will make lower attacks. The training will take a while but it will instantly show you how violent the game is. In just a few seconds you’ll be seeing a lot of red. Bodies will gush out red liquid, explode with red smoke and for the bonus of money spewing all over and goes directly to your character on each kill.

You start in a mansion; roaming around doing an intense killing spree and before you reach the boss you will receive a call… FROM YOU WII MOTE!!! Wow that was fun. A woman named Silvia will talk to you explaining that you have to kill the assassin and Silvia has very low confidence with the lead character that he won’t live through the fight. When you reach the first boss it will give a sense of the story and humor of the lead character Travis Touchdown. If you watch “Great Teacher Onizuka,” you’ll notice that Travis almost has the same personality and it is quite fun. The first boss can be difficult but once you notice the pattern, it will be easy to adjust. After defeating the boss, a female character named Silvia will tell you that you have killed the top 11th Assassin, now he has to continue to the top if Travis wants to get see more of Silvia. Now you are an official assassin, but you have to pay an insane amount of cash to continue up.

No More Heroes

After than long and fun introduction, you are placed in a more open city, much like playing Grand Theft Auto. You can travel around to different areas, but there are a limited amount of things that you can do… very limited that I really didn’t have many choices to do. At first you’ll only do work as getting coconuts, but once you finish that you’ll get your first generic assassination mission. After getting more work and more money, you’ll be able pay up and start getting up the ladder of killing more top assassins.

The fun part of this game is that it plays around several ideas. Each time you are going to kill an assassin, something interesting and unsuspecting can happen. One enemy twists the entire screen upside-down for a few seconds, making you confused on how to use the controller. One mission forces you not to use any weapons and makes you run like crazy. Each mission can be unpredictable and enjoyable which can make you want more to see what more stuff you’ll be able to see or play through.

No More Heroes

The graphics immediately plays around a lot of classic games. The visual style resembles watching some anime in 3D, but the surrounding interface looks like it came from an old cellular phone. The pause button even shows the game details, but the graphics now resemble classic arcade menus. After doing an objective, the game even flashes a screen like looking at a Vectrex arcade machine. It gives me an impression that this game really targets a lot of older crowd who has played arcade games or some Atari games to boot. But that doesn’t mean that game is only for veteran gamers, this is so much fun even for people who just started gaming. Just make sure you are 18 and above because the visuals in action can get bloody.

The sounds are very impressive too. They are done well and I had no problems getting into the story with it. Note that the people behind voicing these fun characters are also the same team who did Metal Gear series. So obviously, they know how to act in voices and it is very satisfying. The music is also nice to listen to, I really liked the song called Heavenly Star, but this title already came out on Lumines II. But I also liked listening to some of the in-game sounds that I made a ringtone out of it. Short MP3’s are downloadable from the official website if you want to know.

No More Heroes

Overall, what I liked about the game is that it is does know who to market it to. The veteran gamers, in which they overwhelm with classic visuals and plays around with a variety of gameplay. The story can surprise you although it is a bit light but at the same time crazy and fun. The open city, usually called an open sand box game, is very limited, not as extensive as playing Grand Theft Auto or other incarnations of it. Although it’s not as big, the action and variety of work are fun and interesting. It can end quickly but very satisfying. Just make sure to get everything before ending the game, there are two endings in this game and the standard ending is just too short but plays around with Star Wars. The second ending will explain more interesting story elements.

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