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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

New Game Alert: It's Not Really Final Edition!

I received my copy of Final Fantasy XIII for the PlayStation 3 today and have played around an hour of the game. The opening narrative is a bit underwhelming in that Final Fantasy XII kind of way: In other words, other than one emotional scene, everything feels a bit detached. Things are sure to pick up, at least I would hope so, but one thing I must say is that the character models outside of the full motion videos are quite amazing. I am still disappointed with the hair though: they don't look as nice as they did in the promotional "in-game" screenshots. If FFXIII was exclusive to the PS3, it would have been a definitely system seller but perhaps God of War III will be up for that task next week.


Lightning seems to be a pretty cool character so far.


Meanwhile on Microsoft land, FFXIII is enjoying the spotlight.
I really recommend getting that PS3 that you have been wanting for a
while and play this game there. Do not play the inferior X-Box 360 port.
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Ubisoft is Proud but I'm Not Buying

Since the Personal Computer version of Assassin's Creed II that was just released today still sports the new digital rights management protection that mandates players to stay connected to Ubisoft's sever, I have decided to get the console version of the game. I was really looking forward to playing the game with better graphics but Ubisoft definitely crossed the line here: even though they have tamed the DRM somewhat where you can continue playing the game at the exact spot when you lost connection to the server instead of from your last save point. Ubisoft also promised that a patch will be released to enable offline play of the game if the server is retired in the future. I support developers' DRM use because they have every right to protect their investments: people like to cry foul and claim that people will still pirate games even with DRM implementation but those same people are probably pirates anyway. I mean, yeah, people pirate games - and people steal outside of video games - but that doesn't mean that developers shouldn't try! It's like saying you shouldn't lock-up nor install a security system for your house because there will always be thieves out there. Funny how no one playing the current gen consoles complains much about this when firmwares are being periodically released to specifically brick modded console units. There are wild rumors running rampant all over the Internet that Ubisoft's new DRM has been cracked. The authentication server was definitely attacked with 5% of the players unable to connect to Ubisoft's server. The problem was fixed and Ubisoft was quick to address popular gaming websites that claimed ACII was cracked that despite the rumors, those who downloaded the pirated copy will not be happy with their big fat download because it will not work. Whether the truth lies with the pirates or with Ubisoft, this is not something to be proud of... for either parties! To me, locking contents and/or multi-player functionalities like what Microsoft is doing with Games for Windows Live and what Electronic Arts did with Mass Effect 2 is definitely the way to go with PC DRMs.


This is how the retail cover for the game should look like:
Why didn't Ubisoft go GFWL with the X-Box 360 version already available?
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Monday, March 8, 2010

New Game Alert: Free Wii Speak Edition!

I went to a retail electronic store today and picked up Endless Ocean: Blue World for the Nintendo Wii. I have written about my aquaphobia before and there were some parts to the first Endless Ocean on the Wii that scared me to death. So why would I purchase this game? It's because I love nature and I especially like fish. I may never, ever dive into the ocean to swim with them in real life because I would probably die out of fright if I were to do that. I like watching fish through the glass of an aquarium of any size but I cannot view them from the top - doing that would cause me to hyperventilate. I consider games like this one to be a way for me to face my fear in hope that things would get better in regards to how I perceive open water in the future.


I hope there are more songs from Hayley Westenra in there...

By the way, if you still do not own a Wii Speak - I got mine when I purchased Animal Crossing: City Folk - you should not pass up on this game. Both the game onlyand the game + Wii Speak bundleare priced similarly at $29.99. Very strange! Stranger still is that the standalone Wii Speak is usually sold for $29.99! So you are getting a Wii Speak plus a free game when you pick up the bundle! Then you can chat with your friends on the Wii's chat channel! It may be silly for me to own two Wii Speak units but I would be dumb to pay the same price for the game and getting less for it.
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Games Played 03/01/2010 - 03/07/2010

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Sunday, March 7, 2010

Heavy Rain: It Will Never Stop Raining

With the arrival of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (with Banjo Kazooie) and ESPGaluda II Black Label for the X-Box 360, I have pretty much abandoned playing Heavy Rain. I wouldn't have done so if not for the troublesome crashing issue that I have experienced playing the game. Before I stopped, the storyline was beginning to pick up and the sudden change of pace was quite thrilling. Today, I decided to play the game again and not even an hour into the game - more like 15 minutes or so - the game crashed on me again:


Actual picture of the crashed session, everything frozen in place.
Darn it! I can't even go to the bathroom? Come on!

There is no new patch for the game yet and when I visited the official PlayStation forum, there are still people others who are as unlucky as I am with Heavy Rain. This is extremely frustrating because the game is not bad at all. Someone has suggested deleting the mandatory game install and then reinstalling it but from many claimed that this particular fix is just a waste of time and it wouldn't solve the issue. I'll just spend my time playing other games for the a week or so and wait for the arrival of Heavy Rain's new patch - if it's coming at all because there doesn't seem to be any recent update in regards to the issue from Quantic Dream.
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