Video games: one’s escape from reality to become a hero and save the land from a dark malevolence, or being the twit that’s camping up on the roof and sniping the twenty-somethings who just signed online.
Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will be dropping the price of the Xbox 360 Elite console to $299 USD from $399 USD. Since production has stopped on the Xbox 360 Pro model, Microsoft is cutting the price to $249 USD to clear out remaining units. The price for the Xbox 360 Arcade model, which does not include a hard drive, is still set at $199 USD.
The Xbox 360 Elite comes with a 160GB hard drive, wireless controller and headset along with a one month trial of Xbox Live Gold.
Portable Xbox 360
Benjamin Heckendorn has been working on a little project of his own, modifying Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console to be a little more portable. From the results of his fifth revision, I’d say he’s done a pretty damn good job.
The modified console features a built in LCD monitor, ethernet jack, wireless connectivity, infrared and two USB ports, and a stylish white and blue case while keeping it functional and appealing. There are multiple vents to allow sufficient air flow to keep it cool while you chill out playing Street Fighter 4.
As far as I know, these units are not up for sale.
A Link to the Past
It is quite literally a link to the past. Kotaku came across an auction for six, unopened, PAL copies of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super NES.
Of course, a treasure like this isn’t exactly going to be cheap, but I believe that the buyer does not take rupees.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past first came out in 1991, but has since been reincarnated on the Game Boy Advance back in 2002 and then on the Virtual Console in 2007.
Source: Kotaku
Zelda Promo
Nintendo’s revered game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, unveiled a concept drawing of the next Legend of Zelda game in the works for Wii. The image is that of Link standing with his back against an unknown character. No name has been mentioned for this game and neither has a release date.
E3 is a gamers heaven: for three days each year, the video game industry comes together to show off what they’ve been working on. This year, Microsoft unveiled “Project Natal” — a camera that detects motion, facial expression, voices and more, for the Xbox 360. Instead of the traditional hand-held controller, Project Natal is meant fully immerse the player into the game using a camera, depth sensor and microphone.
On stage, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President, Don Mattrick, joined acclaimed film director, Steven Spielberg, in showcasing the new device along with three games to demonstrate how the interaction works.
Ever since Nintendo changed direction with Wii, Sony and Microsoft have been looking at ways to improve the console gaming experience and lure in potential gamers. When Wii was launched, everyone in the family joined in from little Johnny to grandma since it was easy to pick up and offered a variety of easy to play games. Microsoft is looking to break down the walls that keep players sitting on the floor holding an Xbox 360 controller in their hand and get them up and moving, dodging bullets and reacting to a punch in the gut.
Interested developers will be receiving Project Natal development kits shortly, but no information on a release date or any major titles taking advantage of the technology were made available.
Golgo 13
There are some pretty bad games out there, and Japan’s professional assassin, Golgo 13, is not immune to this. In 1988, Vic Tokai published a game based on the series called Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode for the NES, and it turned out to be a pretty big mindfuck.
Let’s Play, a site that does commentary on video games — both new and retro, did a run through of Golgo 13 and it’s pretty damn hilarious. The commentators rip into the game scene by scene with complete screenshots and character dialogue excerpts. Golgo 13 is so bad, but the scuba gear, and the comments make it up and justify your time spent reading.
If you’re looking for a good laugh, an uproariously bad game and an epic pause screen, Let’s Play Golgo 13 will deliver.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the National Institute on Media and the Family is claiming that Nintendo has abandoned its family friendly focus on Wii.
The fuss is over Sega’s latest creation, MadWorld, which is gory game where players fight like gladiators using vicious and improvised weapons. Obviously, the game is rated M, but there’s still the problem that video games are still played by young children and that Nintendo’s kiddy image is being tarnished.
Unfortunately, these watch dog groups think that the family is always the happy mother, hardworking father, and young impressionable son and innocent daughter. As time progresses, the son and daughter grow up and move on to different things (like the son will go out and skateboard and the daughter will hang at the mall and discuss the latest purse fads or whatever). The groups want to keep the family together and as young and innocent as possible from all the evils and trends in today’s society. And outside of the family are violent movies, vulgar music, bloody games, and so on which have become main stream in Western culture.
Many parents are uninformed over video games and what they should let their kids play (comes back to my experience where I saw a mom buy a copy of Conkers Bad Fur Day for the Nintendo 64 because it had a cuddly squirrel on the box). But what gets me is that families and watchdog groups start going ballistic when an M rated game is released for a Nintendo system because of the company’s perception of being more family oriented. Well, a DVD player is family oriented as well isn’t it? I don’t see why people are freaking out over this because the son could pop in his father’s copy of 300 into the DVD player and spend all afternoon screaming “Tonight we dine in hell!” instead of watching his educational Barney episodes.
Here’s something: if it doesn’t suit your family values: don’t buy it, don’t play it, and don’t whine about it. There are thousands of other games available if you’re not comfortable with one. Responsible gaming is in the hand of the parent. Read the box first before opening your wallet.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
If you know me, you most likely know about Roy. But just who exactly is he and what’s his story? Roy is the main character in the famed strategic role-playing series, Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi, who also takes a playable role in the free-for-all game, Super Smash Bros. Melee.
The opening story gives introduces us to Roy and his home.
In Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi (in English as The Sealed Sword), Roy is the son of the ruling lord in the principality of Pherae. When the kingdom of Bern invaded Lycia, his father fell ill so it was up to Roy to take command of his army. As his journey progresses, more soldiers join the young prince until he is able to seize the capital of Bern. Roy, like his father, is peaceful and just, although his course of action against the invasion shows he is courageous and can be rebellious at times. Roy can only brandish rapiers and the titular Sword of Seals, the ultimate weapon in the game. As characters in the Fire Emblem series are class based, Roy falls under the Lord class.
Eliwood, Roy’s father, is the star of Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken (Fire Emblem for those who have the North American version). Although Roy himself does not make an appearance in the game, he is hinted at briefly in the story.
Roy only appears in Fuuin no Tsurugi, which was a Japan-exclusive release. Roy’s name is spelled as ロイ in katakana which translates roughly into Roi.
Roy wearing his alternate colours on the Hyrule Temple stage.
Roy is an unlockable character in Nintendo’s all star game, Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube. Performance wise, Roy is the clone of Marth; although a little slower and isn’t that great when it comes to mid-air combat. However, for what Roy lacks in speed, he makes it up with power.
The Fire Emblem hero’s attacks are fire-based which pack more of a punch especially with the Blazer (Up + B) combo. Flare Blade is something to be in awe of, so press and hold the B button to watch the fireworks fly. However, Roy’s greatest ability is his counter-attack which, if timed correctly, will negate any damage and cause injury to the opposing character. Only he and Marth possess this skill.
Unfortunately, Roy is not a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii. His only appearance is that of a collectible sticker.
Roy
No, not in any way, shape or form. While both are from Fire Emblem games, they never make any appearances together. It’s like saying Cloud is Zidane’s or Tidus’ (of Final Fantasy fame) cousin or whatever. There’s no relationship and because they’re in different games, they live in different lands and face different challenges. Marth appears only in Fire Emblem: Dragon of Darkness and Fire Emblem: Sword of Light (NES, Japan only) and Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (SNES, Japan only) while Roy makes a heroic appearance in Fire Emblem: The Sealed Sword (GBA, Japan only). Marth also starred in the Fire Emblem anime.
Just because they appear together in Super Smash Bros. Melee does not mean they’re blood relatives or are related in anyway.
Jun Fukuyama performs as the voice talent for Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee… and he does a damn good job!
Mamoru dekimono-no tame-ni, makerarenai! – For those who I protect, I mustn’t lose!
Kurushii tatakai datta. – It was a tough battle.
Shin-no tatakai-wa… korekare da! – The true battle starts here!
Boku wa makenai. – I won’t lose.
Fire Emblem is a series of tactical role-playing games developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The games revolve around robust characters in a medieval setting and entrenching story lines. The first games in the series were only released in Japan, and it wasn’t until 2003, 13 years after the first Fire Emblem was released, that one was distributed overseas.
Each battle is turn based, and depending on the number of points of damage dealt are used against the current character’s life points. As each enemy is defeated, experience points are gained, however, if a playable character dies, they cannot be revived and remain unusable for the rest of the game. Should the main character be defeated, the game will end.
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Naruto: Rise of a Ninja cover
I picked up Naruto: Rise of a Ninja during my brief stay in Chicago for Reactor (only because no-one had it in Canada when it was released).
Graphics
Even though the visuals of the game are cel-shaded, they are amazingly well done. The graphics are bright, crisp and detailed. It’s almost as if the manga itself was coloured on the screen. Ubisoft outdid themselves in this and you can see a lot of detail and the animation is fluid. I can’t say anything bad about this. Video.
Sound
The music is crisp and clear and a lot of it is from the anime, while some is made just for the game. I was disappointed over the voice acting as a lot of it was stale and the characters would say the same thing over and over. For the fans who prefer the Japanese voice actors, there is a patch on XBOX Live that lets you download their voices and replace the English ones. However, I did notice that upon doing this, that sometimes the game would freeze.
Gameplay
The controls aren’t too bad. They are a little sensitive, so it’s easy to make a mistake and jump too far. It’s not a big deal, but it counts if you’re under a time limit or trying to pull off a perfect combo.
If you’re a button masher, you may have a little fun but struggle to remember how to pull off some of the killer moves. The killer moves are important as they give you that extra second to land the fatal blow on your opponent.
One thing I noticed, is that there is some lag at certain points. It’s a brief hit when you pick up a coin or other collectible item. If you run through the item, the game pauses for a split millisecond.
Pulling off the ninjutsu takes patience and practice. If you miss the timer (which can be a little frustrating in making the mark), Naruto will do something to show that you didn’t make it, such as a failed clone, or a fart. If you’re in a battle, this will cost you dearly and leaves you open to a serious attack.
Story
Basically, you’re following the young Naruto Uzumaki around as he yearns to become Konoha’s next hokage, or head ninja. In Story Mode, you take on missions to build up your skill, health and chakra to take on even bigger missions.
An added bonus is that the game includes clips from the anime to help explain what’s going on. However, it’s cut and pasted together, so you’ll see in-game graphics mixed with scenes from the animated series. Unfortunately, it looks like a poorly done clip-show at times.
Overall
There’s lots to do in this game, and I can’t put it down. You need patience and skill to take this game on, so be prepared to sit on your ass for a long time and just explore.
I need to renew my Xbox Live subscription, but there’s stuff you can download as well as online multiplayer matches. Overall, it’s pretty good and I do recommend it for any Naruto fan.
NOTE: Online play over XBOX Live was not mentioned due to the fact that I do not have an active XBOX Live Gold account.
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