Gaming with my kid : Scott Pilgrim vs. World Review

Some people have a problem with letting their kids play any and all video games at age 4 believing it's detrimental to a child's development but I really believe there are important character building and problem solving skills that a kid can learned playing the right games.

here's one of my kids favorite games and what I believe she gets out of playing it:

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (PS3)
This retro side scrolling 2D beat-em up is simple enough so that most kids can pick it up and play with a parent or a friend. It's beautifully rendered levels and cute character designs are endearing. Level progression is tough on your own but with a second player it becomes a bit easier.

It's a great game that helps your kid understand teamwork. Before you dismiss me as a gamer nerd dad gone mad, just hear me out. It's a multi player game that requires my child to come to the aid of a fallen comrade and resuscitate them in order to progress to the next level. You can also team up to help one another in and some levels require to keep the enemies distracted while the other person runs around collecting coins that you can share in the store to upgrade your favorite character's attributes.

So you get team work, selflessness, counting, patience, hand-eye coordination and learning how to be a gracious loser, a skill that if you've played anyone online, many adults have yet to learn.

I really love this game and further more I love playing it with my child.
Review Score:

Grandaiza: 4/5

Baby No: 5/5

here's a glimpse of the game in action in case you where thinking about getting it.

PSN UPDATE 3.61

I restarted the PS3 and received a megssage to upgrade the firmware to 3.61, it's been downloading for about 2 minutes and it's at 10% so cross your fingers and wish me luck, I'm going into the void.


UPDATE:

I wasn't able to log on after the update, it's probably a security patch in preparation for the relaunch.

Sound the klaxon! The Playstaion Network is back online!

My wife was able to sign in on the PS3 PSN and play a Netflix instant movie this very instant. The only problem is that my daughter Is currently I'm possession of the ps3 remote watching her heinous Hello Kitty cartoon on my only console. (the curse of being a male in a house full of women...sigh)

UPDATE:

I'm still unable to log on to the network but Netflix is on the Ps3 is working at least, for now.

UNCHARTED 3 Gameplay footage ( J.Fallon)

Here's a clip from the Jimmy Fallon show of the next installment of what could be the greatest action adventure gaming franchise, Uncharted.

here's the clip ( sorry about the ads ):

Star wars force unleashed 2 demo impression

As a star wars fan, I really enjoyed the first game so much so that I still find myself playing the original from time to time, even though some of Starkillers moves where a bit choppy it still made for some of the best star wars gaming available on current consoles.

( Lucas arts, get to work on that x-wing vs tie fighter for Ps3 pronto. )

Well I'm pleased to report that it looks like Vader's secret apprentice has been training in-between games with Kratos cause the kid is swift! Dual lightsabers moving with enough speed and grace to make the god of war himself green with envy. he also borrowed the "rage gauge" from Kratos, string together attacks and you gauge slowly fills, once filled click down on your L3 & R3 buttons and you can dole out insane combo moves at twice the speed.

The new Jedi mind trick move is awesome, sending hapless weak minded fools leaping to their death. I'm told that once upgraded this new ability will allow you to actually turn stormtroopers against each other but this feature was not available in the demo.

I was able to fight a carbonite spewing battle droid trying to bring me in alive, force grabbing plums of the substance and hurl it back at the droid, freeze it and take it apart with a variety of force powers.

If the demo is any indication this one's a winner, my only concern is the amount of levels and the games length but that I'll save for the review.

here's footage of the demo in action available now on xbox 360 and ps3!

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE : MY IMPRESSION SO FAR....

Although the thought of aa console MMOPRG with DC superheroes really appeals to me, I a little sad that none of the gameplay footage that I've seen gives me any hope for this title.

I know it's a work in progress but with the release date right around the corner I've yet to see something other than a spiffy CG trailer that compel me to play this game. Here are some of the points that believe this game will have going against it at launch:

• COST : $59.99+ tax and an additional $14 a month if you don't have a PS+ account or the slightly better deal of getting a PS+ account for $50 per year and you get to play this game for free, HULU plus and wipeout HD included for that price. It's still an extra cost that PS3 console gamers are not used to.

• COMPETITION: With the huge selection of established and soon to be released multiplayer games that are for the most part you are able to play for free online with your "friends" I can't imagine that this game has a snowballs chance in hell of taking off, which takes us to my next critique.

• GAMEPLAY: looks bad, from what I can gather, it suffers from bad collision, the animations are choppy and the in game world look just bland ( think Nintendo 64 superman). I mean at this point and time you would think that Sony, one of the early pioneers of the multiplayer online gaming world, would have gotten there shit together when it comes to MMORPG by now.

Here's the "sizzle" in the form of the comic con CG trailer for the game, which I have to say had me sold in the first 30 seconds:




And here's the "steak" an approximation of what your getting for $59.99 + $14 a month.

PS3: DEMON SOUL - HINTS ON LEVELING UP.

PSN gamertag: Grandaiza


From now until the 28th World Tenancies are White in Demon soul. Now what does this mean exactly for you the player? New areas are open, enemies are slightly weaker and are less likely do dole out a special attack ( plague, Bleeding, etc...)

This is the perfect time to slowing pick apart a level that's been giving you a hard time and get those souls.

But be warned, don't get cocky this is still one of the most unforgiving RPG's to ever grace a gaming console. use this time wisely. If you've amassed a small fortune in souls and are faced with a fogged gateway after you've cleared a level, double back and cash in those souls for attributes, spells, weapon upgrades and repairs.

Once you go through the fog and the demon kills you your soul is stuck in the demons lair and with no improvement in your character, your likely to get killed again and again trying to recover those souls you should have cashed in at the nexus with that weird blind goth chick.

The Level "Lair of the Shadowmen" gives you about 600+ souls per enemy with a good weapon you should be able to cull about 10,000+ souls per run through. Get to the fogged archway and then double back and cash in.

I know it sounds cheesy but hey, the game is hard and it's not going to get any easier than it is right now ( until Dec. 28th ) take advantage and get your character up to par while you can.

One another note:

I encountered my first black Phantom ( another player who chose to manifest in my world and challenge me ) the guy way bright red and had a giant flaming Claymore that dealt an insane amount of damage. The only advantage that I had was that my characters burden was light and I was apparently much quicker than he was so I was able to side step his attacks and kill him for a whopping 3000 souls.

NETFLIX INSTANT REVIEWS: STAR TREK SEASON 1

With Netflix now streaming on 2 out of 3 major consoles, I wanted to share some of my favorite movies, anime series and TV shows available for instant steaming on the service right now.


Star Trek Season 1 in HD is worth checking out. The episodes have never looked better, updated special effects that blend in seamlessly to the original footage and Ricardo Montalban as Khan in Space Seed!

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Even if you've been in a cave for the last 40 years or are to young to remember the original series and enjoyed the J.J. Abrams movie, give the original that inspired it all a shot.

Click here to add to your Queue

BAYONETTA DEMO (PS3) IMPRESSION

By GRANDAIZA


Bayonetta is a stylized multi-platform action game from Sega and the creators of the original Devil may cry that has gotten a lot of fan fair since it's initial announcement about a year ago.

I've been reading a lot of articles regarding Sega's decision to sub contract the PS3 version to a 3rd party developer and the negative effect that the choice had on the final product, so I eagerly downloaded the demo (1.4gb!) to see what to expect. ( as I write this, i've learned that Sony is working with Sega to correct some of these issues by the time the game is released )

Character and level designs are top notch, Beyonetta is able to dispatch enemies with a multitude of combos and weapons that are intuitive, pleasant to look at and fun. The enemies that I faced look like demons disguised as angels, if you evade their attacks at the last minute your rewarded with her patented "witchtime" that speeds you up and slows your enemies down.

I thankfully didn't experience any gameplay slow down at any time. The only issue that I had and mind you this is a demo of a work in progress so I hope that they're working on this problem is the camera, it focuses on your character rather than where the enemies are, which can be very frustrating when your in the heat of battle. To their defense the developers did include a camera reset on the R3 button but it's a nagging little problem that I hope is fixed before lauch.

Overall, A fun sampling that merits a download if you have the HD space.

here's a video of the demo for you.

enjoy.

ADVENTURES IN DEMON SOUL: ARMORED SPIDER

For those of you who are out of the gaming loop, Demon Soul is a D&D style dungeon crawler

exclusive to the PS3.



It's brutally unforgiving but oh so rewarding.

I'm fighting my 3 boss, a giant fire breathing, web slinging, pain in the ass armored spider that

will flatten you like a pancake if you slip up once.




Here's a visual of what I'm talking about.

ANOTHER REASON TO GET A PS3: UNCHARTED 2!

The first game was an awesome gaming experience with characters and stories befitting the best Hollywood treasure hunting films.

But could Naughty dog do it again?

The reviews are in and I believe it's unanimous, uncharted 2 does it better than before as if it where possible.

Here's one review I wanted to share, normally I don't embed X-play reviews (I hate the hosts) but they managed to get some kick ass video clips of the game in action.

Video Games - E3 2009 - X-Play

IL*2 Stromovich: Birds of prey PS3 & 360

I've been playing the IL*2 Demo for about a day now and if you have a the slightest need to dogfight over a WW2 theater of war, this is your game.

I advise people to download the demo and give a go ( the demo on the PS3 has 3 full missions to tackle and 2 difficulty levels each to unlock! )

if your still on the fence, just wait for a used copy. I can see how younger gamers ( the Halo, ADD, quick fix generation ) will probably trade this game in quickly for something a little more flashy.

here's a video review from 1up.com to give a taste of whats in the box.

Video Games | IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey | Review

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

GIVE COLE A CHANCE!....GIVE COLE A CHANCE!

For my PS3 owning readers, if you enjoyed the BATMAN : Arhkam Asylum game and you're looking for you next super hero / villain fix, do yourself a favor and pick up infamous, A PS3 exclusive that kind of lost it's way due to a similar yet substandard game that was released at around the same time ( prototype ).

Here's what INFAMOUS has to offer:

• A fully interactive city ( with four Boroughs )with traffic, villains and a mob of people that will either cheer you on as you do good deeds or pelt you with rocks when you act like a prick.

• An intriguing story worthy of the big Three comic publishers.

• A plethora of custom Good / Evil powers to unlock.

• A wide variety of villains in many shapes & sizes with a variety of abilities to counter your own that actually learn to anticipate your moves and never fall in the category of bland or monotonous.

• Unrestricted missions that allow you do whatever it takes to complete them even if it means wounding innocent bystanders or blowing up a row of cars in traffic.

• You're actions, for good of evil, affect the story in a completely different ways which ultimately determines your powers, relationships and missions. ( also drastically changes what ending you get.)

If your jonesing for a good game and not sure what to pick up give INFAMOUS a shot, still not sold?

here's a clip:

Assasins Creed 2 : gameplay footage

The first Assassins Creed game was a blast to play, there was something about sneaking up and stabbing poor unsuspecting people that really made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

As always there were a couple of silly gameplay "flaws" for lack of a better term that made no sense for me, Like Altair not being able to swim ( he's a freaking assassin, swimming should be a mandatory class in assassin school ) and the pick pocket missions ( just kill the fucker and take whatever you're after, your an Assassin! )

Now Assassin Creed 2 looks to seriously improve on the originals formula, weapons, locals. I'll reserve my final seal of approval after I play the demo ( unless Ubisoft Montreal wants to send me a demo now accompanied by producer Jade Raymond, I would be more than happy to give it to her..I mean it a review)

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Revisited

Lately been neglecting my fighting games.

One in particular that I've been meaning to get back to is BlazBlue an obscure hot little fighter with HD graphics and a sick combo system that rivals the Marvel Vs Capcom series by Arcsystems works, the same people that brought you the now classic Guilty Gear series.

If you're a fighting game freak like myself, this is definitely one to add to the collection.

Here's a combo video of the V-13, A character I'm comfortable using against people online.

Bon apetite

PS3: DCU online will be subcription FREE!

Courtesy of The Sony insider,

Another reason to get a PS3, Superhero MMO gaming with no monthly subscription fee.

Sony Insider had an opportunity to talk to Wes Yanagi, Senior Producer at Sony Online Entertaintment at Gamescom 2009, go hands on with the game, and came away impressed despite the game still being in pre-alpha. Wes revealed several details on gameplay, character creation, and one big suprise: no subscription fee.

From an interaction perspective, Yanagi stated he wanted it to be more action based in the vein of God of War than World of Warcraft. Character configuration continues to gain detail, but at the same time being true to the world of comics in regards to how abilities are represented. In building your character, you have 3 main areas to customize:

• Power: This defines your character’s main power. Ashram learned mimic skills like Connor Hawke, or telepathy like Saturn Girl?
• Source: This defines the source of your characters powers. Magic based like Captain Marvel or hell based like Jason Blood?
• Movement Power: This defines your primary movement. Prefer to mainline the speed force like Wally West or have fly like Captain Atom?

A few other interesting details from their interview and impressions:

• You have to prove your worth before your recruited by a group (such as the Justice League)
• The ability to map your buttons to a DualShock 3 or to a USB Keyboard
• Open platform servers for cross-compatibility between the PS3 and PC versions

As impressive as no subscription fee’s is, open platform servers is equally as impressive. To be able to play with or against people on either PC or PS3 could create quite an expansive world. Further to play your created character on either a PC or PS3 would be nice when the PS3 is not accessible.

So get ready to jump right in the thick of the Rann / Thanagarian war as the newest member of the Sinsetro Corps next year for free.

PS3 Hard Drive Upgrade : Success! (Things to know.)

I've completed the operation on my PS3 with less complications than expected. Now we're rocking a 500 gb drive that runs a bit quieter than the OEM 40 gb Drive.

Some things I'd like to share with my fellow PS3 owners:

• I was worried that the drive that I was going to use to back up my PS3 Data ( my PSP with a 4 gb card ) was not big enough I was right. To solve this little problem all I did was erase the GAME DATA from the PS3 ( this is the data that is stored on the PS3 hard drive from the game disk to help minimize load times during gameplay NOT THE GAME SAVES) this takes up anywhere between 1 gb to 8 gb per game.

• With the Game Data removed my back up went from 30 gb to 688 mb and I keep all of my game saves, files, pics wallpapers intact.

• Another great thing to know is that once you slap the new hard drive in and turn the system on, the internal PS3 memory retains your user ID even before you restore the data that you backed up! My user name, password and network settings where right there from the get go, if the back up failed for whatever reason, all I had to do was go to the PS store and download the software I had purchased and start my games over from the beginning ( thankfully that's not the case ) pretty nifty.

• I checked all of my save files in each game and everything from my Burnout paradise car collection to the hard to unlock characters in Street fighter 4 and weapons in Resident evil 5 are all still intact. All I have to do is update each game by popping it in once and downloading each game patch ( the downside of erasing the game data )

Good luck to anyone out there willing to DIY your PS3 hard drive upgrade, just remember, the hardest part is picking the right drive, everything else from back up to paying my saved game took me less than 10 minutes.

PS3 Hard Drive Upgrade : Choosing the drive

I've been a happy PS3 owner for over a year now, A good friend sold it to me for a price I could not refuse and I haven't gone back to Microsoft ever since ( the 360 has been relagated as my 2 year daughter's media player ).

The only concern I had was that this Ps3 had a 40Gb hard drive and I eventually would have to upgrade it... and that time is now!

After carefully researching what hard drive to buy ( cnet, user reviews, forums, etc ) I decided to go with the Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive ( available on newegg.com for a messily $89.00 w/ free shipping.) a lot of PS3 owners had made the switch and recommended this drive online.

So tonight I'll back up my current drive ( I'll let you know how that turns out ) and we'll see if it works for me or if I just fuck my whole system up ( I've been know to do that from time to time )

Cross your finger and wish me luck.

WHAT DO I THINK OF BLAZBLUE FOR PS3?

I've been playing the PS3 version of BlazBlue for about a day now and the verdict is in....

The creators of this game are out of their effing minds, (in a good way) fast paced combos and moves that cancel into one another at blinding speeds, devastating super attacks and combo breaking defensive barriers are all here to confuse the hell out of you.

The gauges and defensive moves are a little overwhelming at first but if you've ever played any version Guilty Gear or Marvel vs Capcom, it should take you just a couple of button mashing, semi circles crunching matches to find the move set for each character ( or you could use the move list in the pause menu but where's the fun in that? )

Each character has their own unique power ( Ice, Wind, Lighting, life leaching ) and most characters have a familiar look and feel to them:

TAGER = HULK,

ARAKUNE = SHUMA GORATH

CARL = HSIEN KO

LITCHI = DONOVAN

TAOKAKA = FELICIA

Don't get me wrong, they're not ripoffs, but you can see where the creators at Ark System Works wanted to pay homage to those great Capcom characters.

I think it's a great game, made by 2D fighting game fans for fans thats' definitly worth the price of admission. ( Just make sure you have a fightstick or be prepared for some seriiuos thumb blisters)

Bonus! Here's a nice video with some secret moves...Shhhhhhhhhhhhh

REBEL ONE......FIGHT!

I was on the fence about getting BLAZEBLUE, a new fighter for the ps3 but this review sold me on it.

(it didn't take much, what can I say...I'm a sucker for pretty 2D fighting games.)

see what all the hub-bub is right below..

Video Games | BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger | Review HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii