• 20Dec 12

  DMC(Devil May Cry).. it's actually a really good game!

  So having spent some time with the demo of this game, set to release in January 2013, I have finally decided to pre-order this baby!!

  So I would like to spent some time trying to lay your doubts to rest.

  First of all, DANTE IS BACK!! And he is still a bad-ass. Not because of his hair color, or his boy-ish nature, but because he can still kick ass better than even Kratos. The controls are easy to learn for all DMC fans out there, and quite intuitive for new commers as well, and the game FINALLY give you SOME control over the camera, and in a decent way.

  Now, I have to admit, when I first saw this picture, I had a bad feeling about this....

  

  This guy looks like a mess, and not the sort of guy who would inspire anyone. The first thig that went through my mind was "What the Sh*T is this, and what does it have to do with Dante??"

  Thankfully, it seems that Ninja Theory saw the error of their ways, and took a good long look at this guy, and actually listened to the cries of the fans, and instead they gave us this...

  

  Now THIS GUY I can relate to. He seems cool, confident and looks like he could do some serious damage to some monsters and stuff, so this is acceptable.

  I know that most people wanted an official sequel of the original series, but that is just not what Capcom wanted for the franchise, and I think, or rather "I KNOW" that it is unfair of people to judge Ninja Theory for trying to do what Capcom told them to do, while at the same time giving the fans a good experience with a well known character.

  The reaction to the new version of Dante, seems a lot like the mass reaction to Christian Bale's version of Batman compaired to Michael Keaton, who many still think was the best, and this is also unfair. The rules have changed, because what once was, is no more, or like they say "Nothing good lasts for ever".

  It's time for something new, different and maybe even (Dare I say it) BETTER than what once was..

  I realize that it might be naive of me to appeal to the "Goodness" in the gamers, since if this gaming year has proved anything AT ALL, it is that most gamers do not seem to have any mercy or compassion in them, I at least want to appeal to your sences and tell you, "GO PLAY THIS GAME" or just give the Demo a try, because I was not dissappointed with it, and I doubt you will either.

  

  Dante is a great guy even in this form, and the story has changed a bit, because today everyone wants a good story in ALL of their games.

  So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSSEEE.... Giv this game a try, and give Ninja Theory the benefit of the doubt, because they know how to make good games, and if we do not give them a try, then we will have destroyed the chance of having a "Non Generic" game developer for the next generation, and all we will be stuck with are the same Call Of Duty and World of Warcrafts that have been nothing but generic and boring for so many years. If we as gamers truely want non-generic games, then we have to prove it, and it all starts here..

  • Posted Dec 20, 2012 1:53 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 25Nov 12

  Why I cancelled my Wii U pre-ordre!!

  Well, the Wii U has finally seen it's launch, and everyone is happy... Noooooooooooooot!!!

  No, in all seriousness the Wii U did appeal to me in many ways that neither the Xbox 360 or PS3 did, the Wii U has backwards compatibility, it has a bunch of cool titles that Microsoft and Sony will never get their hands on, and it has a small touch screen built in to the controller, which I think is a much better idea than Xbox smartglass where you have to keep your eyes on both TV and mobile device, and hands on both smartscreen and controller, but Nintendo tries to put it all together into one system, very smart.

  

  I had a Nintendo Wii, 3 years ago and I only had it for 6 months before I got tired of it, and traded it away again at Gamestop, and the reason being that I absolutely despised the nunchucks which every developer wanted to be a part of their games. The Wii U sounds much more attractive to me, and appeals to a guy like myself, who grew up playing lots of old-school co-op games played on a single console, and the Wii U tries to bring this back but without sacrificing half a screen, by giving the consumers a small screen on the controller. Very smart Idea!

  But here comes the downside..

  During the last 2 months I have discovered some bad news about Nintendo's new console, and with each new revelation I gradually lost my interest in the Wii U, as a new console at least.

  1: The Wii U does not allow people to transport their Mii character from other Nintendo consoles to the Wii U, and by binding these Mii characters to one system only, they are sending the signal that they do not yet understand the current trend of Online Accounts, like we have with our Xbox Live avatars and all of our achievements there.

  2: The Wii U does have backwards compatibility, but you need old Wii hardware to play old Wii games, and for a guy like me who did not have any old hardware, it meant that I had to get new-old Wii controllers and remotes.

  3: I got wind that the New Super Mario Bros U can only be used with the Wii U gamepad for singleplayer, and for multiplayer you would need some old Wii remotes combined with the gamepad, so again I would have to spend more money than I already had.

  4: News that the Wii U did not perform better than the PS3 with most multi-platform games, meant that I would spent more money on the same experience as I could get from buying a new PS3 with 500Gb hard drive.

  5: Nintendo TVii won't be operating until a month after the release of the console.

  In the recent years, developers from several nations suddenly created some GOOD gaming experiences for the Nintendo Wii, and I wanted to play most of these games on the Wii U, but with the new system telling me that I had to spend about 200$ on old Wii hardware in order to play the old games, I decided to Cancel my pre-ordre and buy a brand new Wii with all of those GOOD Wii games that had been launched in the last 2 ½ years, like Xenoblade Chronicles, Monster Hunter Tri and The Last Story, being a fan of the Final Fantasy series this seemed appropriate.

  So does this mean that I dont want a Wii U?? NO!!

  But the Wii U is the first console I have ever pre-ordred, and normally I wait for about 6-12 months after a console has been released before I spend money on the system, and not because I want it cheaper, but because I only want AAA titles and most consoles on their launch have a bunch of crap games that wouldnt be caught dead with, and the Wii U seemed different, when being launched with Mario and Pikmin, and a bunch of cool 3rd party titles like Darksiders 2, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Assassins Creed 3. This however is not enough when the system feels only half-ready. And when Nintendo says "It wil be compatible with old Wii games" but decides to leave out the fact that you will need old Wii controllers and remotes to play the old games, that is the same as buying a APPLE computer and then Apple tells me that "oh, and you also have to buy this, and this, and this, and more of these", and THAT I am NOT okey with.

  

  A new system with so many fault at its launch is no better that a new Elder Scrolls game being launched with so many glitches and bugs that some missions cannot be completed until a patch is delivered to the gamers, and a new Elder Scrolls game only costs about 60$ in North America, and around 90$ in northern Europe, but the Wii U costs 300-350$ in North America, and 440-500@ in northern Europe, and patches for a game is free, but hardware for a console is not. At this price range faults are in some cases completely unacceptable.

  So do I want a Wii U?? YES, or maybe.

  But only when these faults have been corrected and the system has been given a general overview, one that Nintendo FAILED to give us because they did not reveal any in-depth details on the system until people had already pre-ordered a copy of the system.

  But that does not work on me. I will not put up with any more crap from hardware or software developers who have misstreated so many consumers during this last console cycle, because I want my money's worth, and I believe I have the right to demand that as a paying customer.

  • Posted Nov 25, 2012 12:25 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 30Oct 12

  To be or not to be, Social!

  Social games, one of my favorite HATE subjects, and why is this? Because the definition of being social is so different from person to person, that the more I hear about it the more confused I get. Today social gaming is very normal to talk about, partially because publishers want social and multiplayer games to take over the gaming industry, and many think this is a good thing, to be able to connect to other people across the globe, to a point where distance no longer matters, with online communication being at an all time high, it is easy to have a chat with anyone from anywhere.

  

  So why do I hate the subject? I know that most who read this article will hate me for this, but I'm going to speak my mind here and vent a little.

  To be social means to interact with other people, to have contact with them and to communicate with them, but please be honest, how many of the people you crush in League of Legends or whose brains have been splattered on walls by your 45' calibre in Call of Duty, how many of these people are we actually conversing with, how many of them are we interacting with other than those who get to feel the anger after being blown to pieces by our grenades??? Many people play some sort of MMO, whether it is an RTS, FPS or RPG and many also join a guild of like minded gamers in order to raid a dungeon with a chance of success, but there are just as many gamers who play an MMO-RPG without ever joining a guild, people who just want some casual fun, and previously MMO games would not make this easy for the casual gamer, but this year we saw the launch of a very successful MMO-RPG by the name of GUILD WARS 2, the first MMO to ever appeal to the casual and single-player gamer. So if "social" gaming is so popular, then why launch a game that appeals to those that have no wish to game for the sake of being social?

  

  Dont get me wrong, I know that many people play competitively or cooperatively over great distances, and for this sake I agree that online gaming is a good way to connect people, but I also know that many of these people will never have a meaningful conversation with one another, but all they talk about is how good this game is and how bad that game is, and the results of their last dungeon raid. What today qualifies as being social is mostly superficial and shallow, I may never know something valuable about a person even after having played games with this person for several years, and this superficial relationship has for many people completely replaced any TRUE sense of a social life and connection with other people.

  In the good old days(yes, I suffer from that syndrome as well) social gaming was done by 2 or more people in the same room while having actual conversations with each other, but this has been replaced with many gamers not being willing to get their ass of the couch and going over to their friends house to play games while still being face-to-face, and this is the very aspect that I believe modern interpretations of social gaming is lacking.

  

  I hear so many people talking about E-sports and MMO dungeon raiding, and none of these aspects of gaming wake the slightest interest in me, because I come from a family where gaming is not a huge issue, when I was a child my mother would not allow a console, like the Commodore 64 or NES inside the house, so I was forced to go visit my friends and play with them, and already here I learned about the enormous amounts of fun you can have with just you, a couple friends and a console with multiple controlers, and I really miss those days.

  The true reason for publishers wanting to take everything Online, is not because they care about changing the gaming industry, but rather the same factor that made Blizzard incorporate an always-online feature in Diablo III, this is their way of controling who has a valid copy and code, and who does not. EA has an Online-Passport ffeature that they want to impliment into all of their games, and for this reason ONLY, they will probably force all of their developers to make a multiplayer component in all of their games, so EA can combat the treat of PIRACY and used-game sales.

  I respect the fact that games as a medium has to change like everything else, but that does not mean that we as humans have to change, or compromise with our ideals just because the majority of Core Gamers want everything to become multi-player, when games like TES: Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City have proven that there is still a HUGE market for single-player gaming, and lots of people who realize that the best Social Gaming is done the old fashioned way, with face-to-face communication and people also being able to talk about other things than their latest raids and deathmatches.

  If however, you feel differently about this subject, please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what fascinates you about E-sports or other forms of Social Gaming.

  • Posted Oct 30, 2012 3:59 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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