Finally! Sony Rips Off Achievements

Oh, Sony, you make me smile with your naivety. Do you really think that your so called 'trophies' are as revolutionary as you think? In fact, the PS3's trophy system is a close 1:1 clone of Microsoft's achievements. To explain it for the poor Nintendo only crowd out there: Achievements are a virtual reward you get for finishing developer set goals in games. With unlocking an achievement you get scorepoints that sum up with your gamerscore bound to your gamertag, your Xbox identity.
I was anxious to see how Sony would raise the achievement system on the next level. Just remember Microsoft integrated the achievement system direct from the beginning in November 2005, Sony launched the Playstation 3 a year later without some equivalent. Sony underestimated the influence of status up leveling and the showing off with it. Now we live in times of the net, times of web 2.0 and heavy social networks. Times in which people are addicted to shape their profile in the virtual realms. Achievements had an deep impact in gaming culture and Sony made the mistake to be too arrogant to realize what kind of ace Microsoft invented with this feature of their Xbox 360. Just remember that there are enough people out there buying bad games just for the sake of boosting their gamerscore up. What multiplatform game will you play, in case you have more than one console - the one that raises your score or the one that doesn't?
And now there are two kinds of PS3 games, the one that contain trophies and the ones that don't. Sure, Sony says there will be trophie updates, but really for all games out there. I bet there won't. And do addictlings have to play their already finished games a second time to get all trophies or will those be unlocked automatically? I bet they won't. And I bet all of the coming multiplatform games won't make a difference in achievements or trophies.
Hell, games were great when achievements were years away, but today that internet penis-o-meter is living and people love it. It was the logical leap for Sony (Kutaragi: "Next gen begins with us!" We see...) to rip that money printing addiction system off but since there is a gap of about 2 1/2 years people expected Sony to come with something fresh, something game changing, some kind of the next step of achievements, but Sony failed and did a simple clone with their trophies.

And fuck those platin trophies, 360 gamers know that it is often enough inhuman to unlock every fucking achievement. Some gamers have lives to live.

PS: Yeah, In-Game-XMB, welcome to 2005, Sony!

Gears 2 UTIII Exclusive Featurette

Yesterday's internet quake about a never believed sequel perhaps is still rotating on your mind, but there are still other things going on. For example this leaked footage of Gears 2 that is exclusive on the 360 version of 'Unreal Tournament III' which is released on the 4th of July.
Have a look over at Gamersyde and see what the Cliffster has to say:

Gamersyde: 8 minutes Gears of War 2

_

OMFG! Diablo 3 Officially Announced!

Holy shit! I prayed for this to happen and today Blizzard officially anounced 'Diablo 3'! It looks pretty much like an updated version of 'Diablo 2' with improved graphics and the same addicting hack'n'slay gameplay. Thank god, ehm, Diablo for this! Blizzard delievers highest quality and who would have wanted a Diablo in 3rd person view and 'Crysis'-like system specs?
For all the intel I'll give you the tip to visit following links:

1Up: Diablo 3 Officially Announced - story + gameplay trailer and some facts on the Blizzard show

Blizzard's Diablo 3 homepage - tons of screenshots, artworks and some videos. Must click!

Gears2 Media Blowout

Is it E3 yet? Hell no! But the new 1Up show is all about Gears2 and they have some kind of multiplayer preview. And don't forget to have a look over at Gamersyde, they have sweet new artworks, screenshots and all the interesting stuff.
Great, seems that finally the Gamevideos embed function works! But why am I not able to download this in HD qual on my pc? Or am I just to newb to manage this? If that's the case please leave a How To comment.

Tales Of Japanese BlaBla

Just saw this so called opening cinematic of 'Tales of Vesperia'. Opening? Cinematic???!! Damn, those monkeys are talking japanese all the time and I can't understand a single word. I would have awaited some kind of trailer. And what the hell is up with this smoking wolf? He makes my mind go boom! A SMOKING WOLF!
Anyway, don't miss those two battle gameplays.

MGS Movie? At Least With Hayter!

Perhaps you've heard of 'Metal Gear Solid' beeing forced to get a movie. Well, who needs a movie if the whole game is over cinematic, I think. And don't forget that videogames are the stronger medium. But that's just hardcore gamer's point of view and Sony wants to make as much cash as possible with Snake and his story. If there really has to be a movie, please at least let it be not bad. And for that the script has to be accurate and authentic and who could that do better than David Hayter, the man who voiced Snake from beginning to end, over a decade? Hayter has more strengths than just having a cool voice. He also is a screenwriter and with that would be the perfect fit for the inevitable MGS movie. So let's vote this petition for him that we don't get another crappy game to movie adaption!
And I think he's also the perfect actor for Snake! I wrote that in my voting comment, feel free to do the same!

HERE'S THE PETITION



To let Hayter speak:

Alex,

Thanks so much for your message. You rock.

As for me writing the MGS movie, tell everyone on-line to write to Matt Tolmach at Sony Pictures studios in Culver City. If enough people do this, we may be back on board.

Thanks,

DH

E3 Warm Up

Oh, yes! E3, the most important videogame expo, is next month. You can expect lots, LOTS of information, trailer, interviews and anything else about videogames. E3 is still gamer's christmas in summer. Too bad I'm on vacation with my girlfriend over E3. But be sure, I will find some kind of internet café to please my gaming addictions.
So, last Bonus Rounds were about GTAIV and MGS4 but now it's all about E3 predictions plus N'Gai is again on board. As said before I'm a fan of his style and his theories.
Get ready for Part One:

E3 Bonus Round - Microsoft

I hope we will see 'Mass Effect 2' at E3! Can't wait!

Dead Space Is Still Alive

There are new videos out for this trip! First two are gameplay and third story, the animated comic number 3. Great, great, GREAT!

Call of Duty 5: World at War Debut Trailer

The new Treyarch CoD is gonna be back in WWII. At least this time you can shoot Japanese in stead of nazis. A decent rent I'd say!

Snake Is In Bad Company

Oh lol, one thing you definitely can say about 'Battlefield: Bad Company' and it's developers is that they have a lot of humor. They just prove it again with this video. MUST SEE!

Too Human - The Commando Class

Didn't I grumble about Gametrailer's lousy 'Too Human Tuesdays' with only 1 minute short videos? Gamersyde has some interesting videos explaining you the game a bit longer. Here it is specificly about the commando class.
This game reminds me of 'Diablo 2', the mother of all hack'n'slay, mixed up with 'Unreal Tournament'. But I hope that there will be more levels than those indoor industrial areas.

Tales of Vesperia Demo Out

Yes, it's true - there is a demo out on Xbox Live for the anticipated JRPG 'Tales of Vesperia'. The only problem for most people is that it is released on the japanese marketplace. Now you have 2 options: create an japanese account or simply watch the demo playthrough the frenchmen over at Gamersyde did for the lazy gamers.
I chose the second opinion and my impressions are overall good. The game looks amazingly beautiful, yes, I like cel shading. The voices are okay - not outstanding and you have the feeling you've heard them before, but you can play the game without muting. Not every text passage is spoken though - I am sensitve to that since 'Mass Effect'. I hope in the final game there will be an option to hide the subtitles in the bubbles (creative at least), cause I like to play my games that way better. The fighting system seems fun - looks like the beat'em'up style matches we know from the 'Tales of' series. Can't say much about the story - but I have a feeling it is the usual fantasy save the world crap. But let's just wait for this.
And don't forget that there is a smoking wolf in your party... !? WTF - were they high when creating this chara?
So, to sum up, I like the game. I don't know how it will compare to those other RPGs coming this year, cause there'll be a lot of them and we will have to pick our favs.

Rise of the Argonauts Gameplay Montage

What's this game gonna be? 'Titan Quest 2'? Is there a new wave of hack'n'slay RPG games coming? Don't forget about 'Sacred 2' or 'Too Human'. Speaking for myself I can't have enough of those hack'n'level up games. Perfect for relaxing.

Sonic Unleashed Again

If you know 'Sonic The Hedgehog' and most of you will, you are certainly aware of that the franchise had ups (16bit) and massive downs (for example the overshit 360/PS3 Sonic). So here comes 'Sonic Unleashed' which is aiming back for the roots of this once genius series. Sonic was best in 2D and having a look at this video it is promising. But at the same time there are camera turns going 3rd person making it look like it's better not speak of predecessor. And I found me thinking if I would really spend 60 bucks on this game... Doesn't it look more like an Arcade game? Wouldn't 800 points be the better price for this. After all Sonic has lost a lot of quality over the last decade. In the golden 16bits he was fighting for the crown of Jump'n'Run with Mario but these days it's obvious that Mario won. And remember what games you could buy and play instead: Too Human, Grid, Fable 2, Fallout, Far Cry 2, The Force Unleashed, Soul Calibur 4, Street Fighter 4 to name only a few.
Seems like I have lost faith in the blue hedgehog. I guess no one expects a 9.something game with this title. Does Yuji Naka work on this? I am not sure, but I don't think so. Just have a look at the pic above - Sonic on the cover of the Nintendo Magazine - who would have ever think something like this would become possible? Let's just hope this thing won't fail.

Atari Threatens Reviewer

The german videogame site 4players.de reviewed the new 'Alone in the Dark' game and gave 68%. As we know that's quite a low score and influences your decision to buy the game or not. 4players said that 'Alone in the Dark' has a lame story and bad dialogue besides some technical issues like clipping and shitty artificial intelligence.
Atari wasn't happy to hear that and decided to threaten 4players to force them to take the review offline. Atari even says that the review is based on a pirate downloaded version and is only set online to make profit through clicks. Atari wants to sue 4players about 50.000 € if they do not take the review offline.
Of course 4players didn't take it offline and 4players didn't test some half baked leaked beta internet shit, they tested the final retail version.

This is a shame. And this is really foolish, Atari, cause we live in times of the internet and soon the whole world will know about your mafia methods.
I don't know if the game is really that bad, but Atari pretty much proved that with their behaviour.

Kotaku's article about the topic.
ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLE PLEASE READ THIS GOOGLE TRANSLATION!

Too Human Classes

Why the hell is this video only 1 minute long? I think a complexe topic like classes deserve some more time to explain! Whatever... It's Too Long in development and some believe that this game will never see the light of the day.

Microsoft Becoming Casual Pussies?

Yeah, seems like MS is trying again to bring the casual flood on the 360. They are thinking about bringing something like those ugly Nintendo Miis to our beloved core gaming system. Rumors even speak of the Miis replacing the gamerpics. Hell no, that would be damned foolish. I can't imagine that the 360 users welcome this crap. The last bastion of core gaming doesn't need this bullshit. Just give us the possibility to upload whatever avatar (gamerpic) we want and perhaps a few more options like the biography to individualize.
But as Microsoft thinks economically and knows that the casual flood can bring great profits, they reach out wider with a Singstar clone called Lips and are planning to bring Quiz games to the Arcade. Well, I wouldn't spend money nor time on this, but there are always people that do. Gamers with children, wifes and grandparents perhaps.

AVGN: Star Trek

The new nerd episode is out. In this video the AVGN plays some 'Star Trek' games. To be honest, I never liked 'Star Trek' and so called Trekkies. I chose for myself becoming a Warsler, a 'Star Wars' fan. 'Star Wars' has a better story, better romantic and the certain something. It's still one of the best fairy tales ever created. There is only one Science Fiction world I would chose before 'Star Wars' and that is the mighty 'Mass Effect'. Anyway, enjoy the latest nerd!

MGS Retro 6 + GT Review

I think this is the final episode of the MGS retro documentary coming alongside with the release of 'Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'. When will I play MGS4? It's in your hands, Sony!

Meet The Secret Apprentice

Not only on the technical site is 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed' a sure hit. The game contains as well a deep story, filling the hole between the new and the old trilogy. In this video Hayden Blackman tells us more about the secret apprentice, Lord Vader's pupil. Of course there are spoilers in this vid, but I guess you already have figuered that out.

Metal Gear Retro 5 - Portable

What awaits us in this episode? Let's see...

The handheld missions of Ghost Babel, AC!D and Portable Ops.

'Portable Ops' was such a shame. It didn't deserve the name 'Metal Gear Solid'. It was a giant step back after MGS3: Snake Eater. And don't tell me that's all because it was for a portable system. It's possible to keep the quality. Proof: Liberty and Vice City Stories.

GT Gives GRID 9.0

For me it's the racing game of the year:

Screwattack's Top10 Ego Shooters

This is going to be interesting. I know that there will certainly be different opinions about the first place.
'Bioshock' on 10? Have they lost their mind?! And where is 'Unreal Tournament'?!!

Dead Space Dev Diary 3 - Sound

This time it's about the factor that does a lot for the creep - sound.

Watch the third 'Dead Space' Dev Diary over at Gamersyde!

RPG Fans Better Get Xbox 360

RPG is the word of the day. Why? Microsoft's Japan Press Conference today!
I'll give you the facts:

- Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope announced for Xbox 360. Perhaps later on PS3. Trailer and screenshots.

- Tales of Vesperia - Release in August in Japan/US (Why do they release it later in Europe, damn them!). Gameplay revealed!

- The Last Remnant - Release this winter in Japan/US/Europe. Time exclusive on 360. Trailer and screenshots.

- Infinite Undiscovery - Release September in the US. New trailer!

And these are only the coming soon JRPGs. Don't forget that the 360 has already gems like 'Eternal Sonata', 'Lost Odissey' and 'Mass Effect'. How many RPGs has the PS3 yet? Few. Exclusive ones? Even less. What a desaster for the successor of the Playstation 2. Under these circumstances it's not unlikely that we could see 'Final Fantasy XIII' go multiplatform.

Sony, if you want to stay in the competition, DO SOMETHING! Don't make Microsoft kick your ass again!

Afro Samurai: Perfection Of Cel Shading?

Today I was surfing Xboxfront and I found those screenshots for the Cel Shaded game 'Afro Samurai'. I don't know much more about this game than that it is based on a anime series and voiced by Samuel L Jackson and contains soundtrack by RZA of the Wu Tang clan. Those screenshots really look impressing, just like a playable anime series. I like Cel Shading and I think that the look of 'Afro Samurai' is pretty good. Perhaps even 'better' than the look of games like 'Eternal Sonata', 'The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker', 'Okami' or 'Naruto: Rise of a Ninja'. But that's just a subjective opinion and all those games have in common that they do look special.






And here is a trailer for Afro Samurai, the anime, I guess.

GT Is Crazy About GTA IV

Gametrailers is more addicted to GTA IV than anyone else. Besides me perhaps. This is the third of their 'Liberty City Obituaries' and I could watch another 20 of it. Who would have imagined that this game rocks so hard?

LOL Calibur IV: The Force Unleashed

Oh so strong and dramatic words flying over the screen and then a new character is introduced. A Star Wars character again, damn right. It's Darth Vader's secret apprentice who is going to play the protagonist in the upcoming Star Wars title 'The Force Unleashed'. It's getting ridiculous, Namco.

Metal Gear Retro, This Time 1Up

Gametrailer's MGS Retroperspective is a great documentary. But if you still haven't enough of the MGS-Mania then have a look at this written Retroperspective over at 1Up.

1Up's Gear Up: A Metal Gear Retrospective

(I know they call it Retrospective, but I think Retroperspective is so much cooler! )

Guyle Vs Abel

Old Skool versus rookie in this new art style 'Street Fighter IV' trailer. Can't wait to add this game to my collection.



Just mute the annoying speaker in this character trailer. Where is Gouki aka Akuma?

Dark Void

This game looks damn insane. Flying with a rocket pack and assassinating UFOs? That's gotta be a rollercoaster ride of a gaming experience! I'll keep an eye on this new Capcom title.

Do This Bundle ASAP, Sony!

I don't understand Sony's strategy over here in good old Europe. We still have no Dual Shock 3, the backward compatible 60 gig version is no longer available and replaced with the cheaper 40 gig model which isn't backward playable. Still us Europeans have to play with the burden of no rumble. Rumble is not last gen, it's gaming standard since over a decade you helped build, Sony! And the PS3 is still too fucking expensive. In case you haven't noticed, Sony, most gamers moved to 360 for gaming. PS3 still isn't much more than a Blu Ray player. But now is your chance, Sony. With MGS4 you have one hot jewel that all coregamers are waiting for with greedy eyes. If you want me as 360 owner to buy your platform and support your product do this fair bundle and I am sure you will sell many units more.
Give us the PS3 and the Dual Shock 3 and 'Metal Gear Solid 4' for 399€.

In the first personal gaming poll which was on for quite a few months the PS3 even beats the 360. And the Wii gets just what it deserves:

MGS Retro Part 4

In the fourth part of Gametrailer's MGS documentary the topic is Big Boss, genetical father of Solid Snake. Liquid and Solid Snake (and the one from MGS2) are clone sons of Naked Snake, the later Big Boss, who is the protagonist in the brilliant game "Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater".

Guitar Hero: Metallica Announced

Dreams come true with 'Guitar Hero: Metallica'. One of the best bands of all time in one of the funniest videogames of all time. I can't wait till 'before Q1 2009'.

Ninja Gaiden 2 GT Review

The hot 360 exclusive gore fest 'Ninja Gaiden 2' got reviewed by GT. As they say it's much the same as the predecessor. I think this game looks a lot of fun and I don't want to miss it. Personally I know Ryu Hayabusa only from 'Dead or Alive', but in that game he kicked ass. I've heard that this game is very frustrating and with GT underlining this phrase ("most won't finish") I should better rent and try. Problem is that this game is not to be released in Deutschland. Why? Just have a look at the immense amount of gore and remember the German youth 'protection' media control.

Kame Hame HAAA!!!!

Have a look at those videos of 'Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit'. They look just like the animated series. I wonder if Muten Roshi will be playable in the game. But who is this Über Sayajin Brolly? I've read all of Toriyama's manga, in fact I still have them here at home, and in the manga Brolly doesn't appear. Whatever, no one is stronger than Goku!
Fear the Genkidama, nerds!

The New Castlevania

It's Castlevania Number 3 for Nintendo's DS. Looks like... Castlevania.
Which is usually nice.

Back In The New York Blast

It's just incredible what can be done in GTA IV. Have a look at those scenes caught by GT. I like how the tail of the helicopter is hit by a rocket and the whole thing is thrown forward. Amazing game.

Remember This Mega Drive Classic?

What other great Beat'em Ups had the Mega Drive/Genesis besides 'Street of Rage'? Right, there was this game where you could play Barbarian, Amazon or Dwarf and slash the shit outta bad monster. The 'Golden Axe' series will take the next step to Xbox 360. And you know what?! It looks like it's gonna be a bloody hell of fun.

Dead Space: More Plot Insights

Here I found the second animated comic which introduces even deeper in the plot of 'Dead Space', the highly anticipated survival horror newcomer.
The video takes a few minutes to watch and tells the story slowly more like episodes of a movie than a trailer. The second issue of the 'Dead Space' comic, that's it. I am very excited for this game.

Resi 5 Introducing Sidekick

There's a new trailer of the survival horror titan 'Resident Evil 5' out. Not only that this trailer lets you have an deeper insight on the plot. A new character is introduced as well. She is female, black and as hot as Claire and Jill. Gameplay it seems is a straight evolution of 'Resident Evil 4'.
Shame this trailer isn't available yet in HD. I don't understand why we have to wait, but the high detail version will be released in a few days.