Metal Gear Solid 4 is a game that is unlikely to be overcome technically or creatively in some time, it’s so massive that you can easily find yourself entranced with it for easily a month or two.  I literally spent about three weeks playing the game and am still wondering if an when it will gain a larger footing in the world at large.  It amazes me that this game isn’t known the world over, at least, as much as say, the Grand Theft Auto series and especially the last GTA addition that was surely not all that thrilling to us here at Lost Planet.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the epic action-stealth game from famed designer Hideo Kojima is as dry as you can get.  It’s a weird Anima Adventure that is sure to keep you at least modestly interested in Old Snake and his ‘Tribe’ of like minded fanatics.  These are genetically superior creatures who have very nearly shed their Humanity for something much more alien and deadly.  They are all cut off from the ordinary pursuits of ordinary and so called normal like of most inhabitants of Earth.  Where a mother might go out to the market to buy groceries for a family of four these ‘mothers’ are mostly interested in destroying their counterparts and keeping their mutual interest in each other at an all time high.

Indeed one does get the ‘feel’ that without these keeping track of each other no one else would even bother.  It’s a small world after all for Old Snake and this assortment of unique and inbred freaks.  There is the exciting Raiden though, a very hot and sexy young man who is nice to look at, not unlike Leon our last gay adventurer, Raiden is surely as thrilling!  Couldn’t he get naked at least in some scenes… Mr. Kojima could have him have a sword fight in the nude or something of that nature so that the many gay boys and others could enjoy his perky little bottom and bouncing ‘jibes’ jolting this way and that in the air.   One of the most amusing moments of the game is when Raiden destroys those two legged things, it’s for sure one of the greatest scenes I’ve ever seen in the Gaming Arena so far.  Raiden moves like a chainsaw cutting butter, his hot and wonderfully sexy body destroying these living machines in such a spectacular manner.  His slim and sexy body and very pretty face seemingly everywhere at once, doing in these baddies.  But then, I think says before this particular battle to Old Snake: “It’s my turn to Protect you, Old Snake!”  Which is hysterical, and I was laughing quite a lot at this comment.  Raiden really sticks it to the old man rather well here!  Snake being such a ‘good guy and so very cool’ doesn’t even realize that he’s being dissed by the sexy Raiden!

Here are some Raiden fans in Statue Pose.  Kojima luckily put in this part and Old Snake even seems to enjoy ’squeezing’ these members a bit!

So then let’s now go onto the rest of Metal Gear Solid 4, actually this is my first time playing a Metal Gear game as I just didn’t have the PS2 back in those days is all, still that doesn’t stop me from understanding the whole thing any less than a noted veteran of the Series!  So you boys go light on me, as I let you know what is up with your cherished Snake!

Old Snake has surely been named correctly by Kojima!  He has a blood disease that has made him old and creeky.  He sort of hobbles around alot and generally is hunched over, not unlike that famous bell ringer of Notre Dame Fame!  But this Quisimodo isn’t quite as fat and stupid as that Hugo creation!  No, here we have a real winner, a staunch and good soul trying to eradicate his Father’s more darker dimension.  He and his brother Liquid, (and I will refrain from Snaking Liquid here) are locked in a war of attrition to see which side will be more forthcoming in the future.  This isn’t a battle between good and evil, but a battle that is just as important!  Liquids view is that the world must be crushed to see the writing on the wall, as it were.  But Old Snake, wants a slower and more kindly outcome to his endevours and dreams!

Even Liquid’s and Snake’s Old Mother drops in.  This old Bat, arrives like some mean old granny bearing an Apple of all things!  She loves her sons like you wouldn’t believe, and even though I’m being funny up above I have nothing but respect for such a lady, and you or anyone else should beware of assumption on this end!

Still, I found her endless talking about Old Boss, her dead hubby and father of Liquid and Old Snake to be pretty much more than I could bare.  In fact, I even found myself Skipping these long drawn out conversations, towards the end though, I did, I assure you hear just about all of it.  Which is more than I can say about Big Mouth Drebin, who always talks too much!  Kojima should have named him Drebin The Idiot!  After Snake destroys on of the Autobots (mechanical chicks, there are about five of them) then Drebin shows up on the view screen and starts telling us just who they were, from about birth to middle age or something.  But the Chick is dead Drebin, who gives a Fuck about some dead Autobot Chick!  Who cares where she came from?  Just toss her ass into the dumpster so that Old Snake can get on to the next one!  I bored completely at this point and quickly passed on these scenes and another one when Old Snake visits Drebin for the first time in his tank.

Drebin in fact seems lonely, what with his Monkey as his only friend.  I mean when’s he gonna get a boyfriend?  Raiden isn’t interested in sex with Drebin… But surely there are some cool boys around for Drebin to Snake on!

To continue Snake has to traverse a vast and expansive canvas that Master Game Designer Kojima has created for these very deserving characters that he and he alone has created.  It’s a world, space and place that is indeed unique in every single way.  To say that Mr. Kojima is ‘ahead of the curve’ in gaming circles is like saying that Ice Berg Lettuce is used for Salads, in other words, Mr. Kojima is so far ahead of his industry that it is rather obvious.   In fact I’m beginning to believe that Metal Gear Solid 4 hasn’t found its true audiance yet, in that, sure we who are gamers know, but the the world at large is still as slow and stupid as ever.  It does gall one that the so called world is without any real understanding about the importance of such important releases as Metal Gear Solid 4, why Old Snake could be The Judgement himself and a Christian on this world would have no way of knowing this, and would likely have his/her thumb lodged firmly in the mouth or elsewhere’s, if you know what I mean.  We laugh of course, because, Jesus himself would be in on something this cool.  Still it’s sad that we have to wait for everyone to die before we can prove just where the real religion is happening!  I’m no christian, by the way, I’m firmly with Death, of course, still…. I’m just saying.

Here in fact is a photo of Otacon, which I believe is Mr. Kojima himself!  A stand-in of sorts for our intrepid coder!  He’s made himself something of a recluse with a young strange daughter, who never never goes outside and very shy indeed.  His interest in Naomi does speak volumes for Otacon/Kojima!  He really ‘tries’ to act all upset when Naomi is killed, still the tears in the gaming arena seem all so false and put upon.  I really wasn’t ‘feeling’ anything for the death of Naomi, I simply considered her a tragic part of the story, and she did tend to talk a bit much.  As I’m sure Drebin would repeat any number of times!  But I really thought that Naomi loved Snake and that Snake loved Naomi, yet as the story progressed it was odd, to me that Otacon and Naomi seemed to be attracted to each other.  I really didn’t think that these two could or would ever be lovers.  In fact, I considered Otacon to be 100% gay, for sure.  Like the flaming Flash or the Web Crawler… Otacon like Drebin to me, seemed to need a hot boy or two!

So as we continue with this cool review of Metal Gear Solid 4, let us turn to the conflict between Old Snake and his older brother, Liquid, who I won’t call Snake, as the credits have named him.  Liquid is one bad Muther F!  And I was surely prepared finally for Old Snake to really ‘activate’ when he meets his hated brother and nemesis for the first time in the game.  Indeed they meet soon after O.S. has been reunited with his mother, whose name is EVA (AKA Big Mama).  As I stated up above I really expected Snake to be and deadly and as cool as Raiden was against the Old Two Legs and Stuff!  Yet, Amazingly Liquid whips Old Snake like you wouldn’t believe, I don’t think Snake even touched him even once.  Liquid, literally stabs Snake with a knife and keeps it in and shocks him like three times.  And he punches him like a little rag doll.  And Snake honestly seemed to me to be weak in just about every area in this most important scene… Can you say P.U.S.S.Y.?  I can and Snake was surely one during this battle with Liquid.  You’d think that Snake would at least hurt Liquid at least once, and no, that last battle between the two doesn’t make up for it in any way.  Liquid just sort of gives up at the end, sick of the whole thing or something!  Then to top it off as Liquid and his Army are on the boat he blows up Snake and his own Mother, Eva, Big Mama!  Snake sure is relaxed about gettin whipped like this!  I know that if I were there, I’d be pretty much upset about having my Ass handed to me!  I’d surely at least get in a right cross or something, if I was really fighting!  But then again, maybe Old Snake was turning the other cheek.  But I doubt it.  Liquid is surely going to be remembered by future gamers as one who defeated Old Snake rather easily.  And carp if you will, I know that true gamers will see the truth and honesty of these words!

Snake The Pussy Screeches Liquid!

Be that as it may, let’s turn to Vamp for a moment.  Vamp is a welcome relief to the festivities and the game as a whole is really not that hard at all to complete.  Vamp is nearly Immortal as Nanomachines course through his body and repair any and all harm that comes to him, not unlike the Revelation Space Novels by Alastair Reynolds, which are highly recommended and very nearly necessary to anyone interested in a larger scope about such technology!  I’ve reviewed these books on my Book Blog, By The Book, click on the link there, you know it’s the right mouse button, if you can deal with that, that is!

Raiden and Vamp share some pretty cool moves and Vamp actually Licks Raiden’s blood from his knife, which is white like Semen and truth be told Vamp doesn’t seem to mind the taste of Raiden’s blood, and at this point I don’t think I’d mind either!  Raiden is so Hot and Sexy!  I must get a poster of him or at least a Figurine….go to our Amazon Store for such Buys!

So now that we’ve traversed Metal Gear Solid 4, we all know something, that Old Snake may just be dead for all we know.  Will Mr. Kojima create another Metal Gear without Old Snake, or will he move onto other Gaming endeavors?  Surely there will obviously be a Metal Gear Movie coming out soon, it’s just obvious.  Indeed every scene is already done!  And it should make quite a lot of money for some Studio out there with a brain still attached!  Which doesn’t leave that many!

In my personal view, I assume that Mr. Kojima is pretty well sick of Old Snake.  Perhaps he could focus on the lovely Raiden and make something of a Gay Anime Fighting Title or something.  In fact Raiden alone would be very cool, gay or not.  He could just be a New Yorker down on his luck and unhappy.  A detective or something ala Resident Evil or something.  Mr. Kojima copying Resident Evil with Raiden would be very cool and funny!  And a break from all that!  But whatever Mr. Kojima attempts in the future will be either startlingly great or terribly bad.  Either way we are all winners as Mr. Kojima does remind me of another who is unsurpassed in his particular Genre.  Recently Mr. Kokima said that Video Games are an art form… that is true but not many games are art yet, but Metal Gear Solid 4, is just that.  It’s Art, but unfortunately, no one sees it but me.  The Art Of War is really everywhere in it.  It’s a shame that there isn’t a real War somewhere to prove this.  Still, there might be someday, when the World has dried its tears and has finally sung its last dirges!

Finally, I didn’t find the game all that hard.  I played it on Liquid Easy!  After all you should take every advantage when dealing with real evil.

Clay.  08/08/08

I’ve been working on some Resident Evil related material and thought why not keep this train rolling with yet another Tie-In. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought that Leon was extremely Gay and Sexy in Resident Evil 4. To say he was Hot isn’t to say much! I wish that they could have had Leon showering nude perhaps before each hunt for Evil! At least have Leon without his shirt… and Pretty, well Leon was Super Pretty!

An Artists Rendition of Leon without his Shirt.

Okay I realize that Leon isn’t real, still he’s surely Gay. That’s just obvious. He’s entirely too good looking and sweet to be a straight man… I mean, come on, straight guys aren’t sexy like that!

Check out that pretty little Butt. Yum!

In Resident Evil 4 Leon is pretty much left all alone to himself!

He’s surrounded by Zombies and has to fight his way out!

Indeed, The Zombies just well may be a Metaphor for a Gay Man’s Journey out of the Evil nature of a Straight Man’s Society of Evils… his Mind is not always all there… and he often strings his unhappiness into Hate towards others (Gays) that he truly can’t understand, simply because this ’sort of striaght mind - The Casual Straight Male Brain’ can’t know itself, but not for lack of trying!

So the makers of Resident Evil 4 just may have been showing Leon’s need for freedom from such Banal Forces.

Leon’s Weapon of choice in this Suggestive Art Work!

The makers of Resident Evil are from another culture than ours in America. From Creator

Shinji Mikami

Who is from Japan.

These are interesting Metaphors then. We should encourage our own ways and means into entertainment. The ‘Slant’ here in America is growing frayed. We would do well to be aware of these good changes!

Well it has come to this!

I’m not Gamespot or something, I don’t get the free games and my staff hasn’t yet arrived!

But one very cool thing about Gamers is that they aren’t afraid to be adventurous.  They know all too well how boring life can really be.  So do keep playing!  I’m all for the fat slobby nerdy outsider who plays video games all day, does grass and just hates everything!  What are laughs for!  That is funny, and a very cool life in my view.  Although your sure to feel bad about yourself because some ‘newscaster’ isn’t finding you a part of his/her society.  I can assure you, that you’re on the right track! 

I’ve been a member of Gamefly now for about six months or so.  So far I’m fairly happy with Gamefly, I was renting the games at Hollywood Video, but at about $8.00 for five or six days the expense was something that was too high in my estimation, which is why I went over to Gamefly.

I’m finding that I might have to ‘take my time’ more on the games from Gamefly.  The sad fact is that most game releases aren’t good enough for me.  I don’t care much at all for Mario and the other types of games that maybe many of you cherish.  So I can’t actually rent Lego anything, or Sonic and his happy pals anytime soon!

I’m an adult for goodness sake!

 Lost Planet doesn’t like Mario!

I like The Killer games though, the ones that are deep and penetrating.  I’m glad about all the killing in games.  Why not kill everything, like it really is.  At least game creators are conforming more to reality than even the movies.  And yeah right, little 15 year old Bobby over in Bum fuck Egypt is going to blow my head off because he played Haze on a bad day.

These scientists and their weird theories about the human anatomy really shouldn’t be read too closely.  Don’t forget not to believe everything you’ve read.

Battlefield Bad Company

So therefore I have Bad Company now, and before this I had to wait for some time to receive it!  I’d just finished The Bourne Conspiracy (The Bourne Conspiracy: Reviewed by Lost Planet) and was hoping to get the Old Snake on board, Metal Gear Solid, of course.  But if you are a Gamefly Regular you will begin to realize the you may have to ‘be ready’ for a release, simply because the Demand outweighs the Inventory.  So by the time I got The Bourne Conspiracy mailed to Gamefly Distribution I was unfortunately too late to get MGS because it was at the low mark, which means that many had rented it!

Metal Gear Solid - One Hard Snake to Get!

Luckily at the time I realized that I wouldn’t have to wait too long for Battlefield Bad Company to come out, and I also had The Hulk in there!  In fact I did remove the Hulk from my Game Q, I do keep a close eye on how the games are received and I don’t like getting a game that can’t hold my attention!

But then I kept looking for MG to come to me but after about a week of nothing I realized sadly that Metal Gear 4 wasn’t going to be sent out to me anytime soon, so finally the big day of Battlefield Bad Company came out and I was watching very closely to see if Gamefly was going to Screw Me!  Was there gonna be trouble, is what I mean.  I’m big on service!  But right then and there Gamefly sent me Battlefield Bad Company which made me pretty well pleased!

So now I’m playing BBC and I’m, for the first time letting whole days go by, even planning on doing so, before I continue with the game.  In fact I purposely let about two or three days go by before playing it again.  I decided that I may have to “Milk It” or what I’m calling “Milking The Cow” with Gamefly.

The reason being that If I rush through BBC and get it in the mail back to Gamefly I may not get MG4 right away… it still has a Very Low Availability. The new games available are Hellboy which is apparently not that good and Overlord Raising Hell, which I have the Demo of so I will check it out there to see if it’s worth renting.  The other games available are Top Spin 3, a Tennis Ball Game!, Wall-E, about some cartoon robot, Nascar 09, Car Game, and Dragon Ball Z, rise of the Pussy or something!  So these are games that I can’t be bothered with!

12 Plus 2 = 14 that’s about how old you’ll need to be to be into Dragon Ball!

So anyway, I only have two possible solutions in the Gamefly Game Q… Metal Gear, which I will play of course, and Raising Hell which I’m not sure I’m gonna play yet.  Raising Hell is on low availability so if I hurry up and finish Battlefield I may have to wait even for that!   So I’m pretty happy with having Battlefield and thinking that maybe I should play more of the Multiplayer stuff which I usually avoid actually.  By keeping Battlefield at least I have something in hand and that does make me feel good, since I won’t be getting Metal Gear for awhile… I think it was about 12 hours that it was available before going back to Very Low Availability.

Hell? Is it good enough for me?

July is looking like a real terrible month for games!  I see 4 games coming, Beijing Olympics, It’s on TV!, Civilization, Sid, I wasn’t impressed by the Demo, NCAA Football 09, I don’t like Madden either, and Soul Caliber IV, which has potential but doesn’t come out until the 29th!  Like I said terrible!

Madden Football Game - Not Interested!

So “Milking The Cow” is a good strategy to those of us who can’t play everything!  Some of you like to check these things out, and that is cool.  But if your like me you may not be all that thrilled by the selection.  Amazingly September seems to be a banner month for Video Games.  September!  Also known as the Boring Month!  You’d think by now that we’d have 1000’s of choices in the summer time when kids aren’t in school anymore.  Are game creators stupid or something?  Paramount knows when to put their big movies out!  Why can’t Electronic Arts do the same.  A July without a blockbuster Game…

Saved by Vader!  Star Wars in September!

I guess so!

Apparently the wildly popular Spore Creature Creator Video Game is being used by some pretty creative people to Create sexually suggestive creatures, such as a giant Penis and Breasts as well.

The game created by The Sims, Will Wright, is meant for less sexual pursuits and Electronic Arts, the Company Producing the Popular game is seeing Red!

Amazingly two from within PC Gamer, a reputable and popular Gamers Magazine were the ones who started this latest Bruhaha.  Tim Edwards, PC Gamers Uk Editor, created with the game what he called: “The World’s First Spore Penis”.  And then soon after PC Gamers US Editor and Chief, Kristen Salvatore, created something she called “Boobalicious”, a creature that looks much like two large breasts.

EA quickly blocked these two ‘Industry Players’ from their Sprore site noting that the two Editors had compromised their User Agreement to not use Spore in any sexually explicit manner.  And many wonder why there is such concern about video games… here are two ‘professionals’ from PC Gamer Magazine who think this is funny, no doubt!  Shameful and dispicable! 

Apparently we are ‘Getting Some’ obscene sex that is, with our games from PC Gamer Editors, Tim Edwards and Kristen Salvatore.

Soon after Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Salvatore were banned from their sick use of the innocent Spore Creature Creator Game, which is targeted mostly to children, thousands of like minded perverts were creating their own mock ups with the Spore game, many of these sexually charged creations saw their way to U-Tube where they were erased but live on elsewhere.

I’m not uptight about sex, and it sure isn’t any surprise to me that someone would start peverting something wholesome into something it wasn’t intended for, that’s the price of freedom and liberty.  It ain’t no problem, but one must note that it began this time with noted professionals within the gaming industry.  They should both be fired immediately!

Lucy Bradshaw one of the Producers of Spore says that Spore Users can can block S-porn from their game.

Amazingly and unsuprisingly the ‘Video Gaming Industry’ is treating this like a ‘no big deal’, its yet another circle the wagon moment.  Yet if I were with EA I’d be wondering If I should call up over at PC Gamer and tell them that I might pull my Games and Advertising!  This is business after all, and these professional Editors of PC Gamer should be held accountable and Fired Immediately!

See these two new Bad Company Videos, one making fun of Gears of War and the other an amused take on Rainbow Six.

 

 

Siren: Blood Curse is the latest Zombie Slasher, but this time its for the Playstation Network where you must download it!  We’ve put up yet another page for the Many Game Vids that come our way we’re calling it our Vid Page.  So go Here: (GOOGAD GAMES VID PAGE) to see these two videos.

Also here are some of the photos that I found upon it.  I’m not sure exactly when Siren’s coming to the PS3 Network but we’ll be letting you know!

 

 

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the epic action-stealth game from famed designer Hideo Kojima is out today, concluding his more than 20-year directorial involvement in the series. I got a chance to sit down with Kojima and ask him about his popular franchise and what’s up next for him.

He said his biggest concern for Metal Gear Solid 4 was to wrap up the story and close up each character’s arc, a task he found came with a lot of pressure. Kojima hasn’t thought about missing the series but he imagines those thoughts may come after today’s launch.

“I’ve just been more worried about how the game will be received,” he said.

Early reviews suggest Kojima has nothing to worry about. Reviewers have been wowed by the story of Solid Snake as he takes on his final mission.

Kojima said the series will likely continue in some form though his role as a director or step-by-step designer is over. The story of protagonist Solid Snake, he confirmed, ends with Metal Gear Solid 4.

MGS 4, an exclusive on the PlayStation 3, is expected to be a big seller for the PS3, which has been trailing in the console race. Kojima said the platform took some getting used to but ultimately his team pushed it to its limits, maxing out the Blu-ray disc’s space. He said once the team got a hang of how to balance the work load and get the most out of the PS3’s Cell processor, they were able to make a game that was incredibly advanced.

“Looking back now, it could only have been achieved on the Cell because of its ability to multi-task,” Kojima said.

Kojima said he’d be interested in exploring movies or writing novels if he had the time. But he said he’s committed to creating video games, which he believes are an art form in their own right.

He believes future video games will combine other media entertainment elements beyond what we see today. In the end, he believes video games can leave their mark on people.

“I believe real entertainment games should add value to people who play,” he said. “I strongly believe and wish it would form in this way in the future.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps Brodie Bruce put it best when he said “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for Sega”. Indeed, there is a social stigma that goes along with being a gamer that seems to be at its worst when dealing with the fairer sex. It’s clear that there are female gamers out there, but unfortunately the majority of them just don’t have a spot in their life for a 360. When dating, the videogame topic is one that’s often avoided until absolutely necessary. Girls often turn up their noses at the thought of playing a videogame, and refuse flat out to have any part of it. So with that in mind, I present to you…

 

10. Viva Pinata – A great game for serious gamers with a cute and cuddly disguise, this game may have been tailor made for the good old bait and switch tactic. Even the most reticent girlfriend will at least admit that a Bunnycomb is pretty adorable. The upcoming Trouble in Paradise makes this even more appealing, with a newly added cooperative mode.

 

9. Dead or Alive 4 – Sure, the ladies of Dead or Alive are horribly stereotyped sex objects. That doesn’t mean your girlfriend won’t be thrilled when she kicks the crap out of your Bayman with her Ayane. Hotseat through the story mode once so she can get the feel of the game and then jump into some competition. With a pretty even spread of male and female characters to play, a Battle of the Sexes tournament can be a lot of fun.

 

8. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion – Taking on the role of a personally created character can be enough to get anyone hooked. Customization and the ability to make choices that affect the game are a big selling point, and a rich and immersive story adds to what may be seen as an unlikely choice for a way to introduce your girlfriend to the 360.

 

7. Halo 3 – Or for that matter Army of Two, or Kane & Lynch. Sure they’re all shooters, but they have one important thing in common - cooperative play. Cooperative play is not only a great way to build upon a relationship, but it’s also a good way to keep a new player from getting discouraged.

 

6. Dance Dance Revolution Universe – The old standby. Sure, it’s not the most hardcore game, but everyone gets their start somewhere. Many girl gamers bought their first console for the DDR series, and why not? It’s exercise, it’s dancing, and it’s great fun.

 

5. Rock Band – A favorite game of non-gamers, Rock Band provides plenty of options. Even a girl unwilling to pick up a controller may be willing to grab the mic and belt out her favorite tunes. The ability to adjust the difficulty separately for each player means that it can be challenging for you without being frustrating for her. A karaoke experience in the house can be a compelling reason to turn on the Xbox, especially if there are a few friends singing too.

 

4. Marvel Ultimate Alliance – With a wide array of characters to choose from, and a simple, easy to grasp game mechanic, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only is it a wonderful introduction to what the Xbox 360 has to offer, it’s a fantastic way to start that comic addiction too. With a cast of very strong characters, both male and female, a light leveling system and a pretty interesting story, Ultimate Alliance is a fantastic introduction to gaming.

 

3. The Simpsons Game – Funny and familiar, The Simpsons Game is a great way to transition into games. The drop-in drop-out coop in the game is a great way to invite her to play. Start up the game, show her some of the cinematics, and coax her into joining in for a bit. The gameplay isn’t the best, but the laughs are there, and that may be enough.

 

2. Lego Star Wars / Indiana Jones – Familiarity plays an important role when introducing someone to games. While Gears of War may be too much to grasp all at once, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones stories are already well known. Combine that with Pixar like humor, virtually no death penalty, and places where the 2nd player is almost necessary, the Lego series are great ‘couple’ games.

 

1. The Orange Box: Portal – A personal favorite and a great introduction to the First Person Shooter, Portal is the perfect game to introduce a girlfriend to. The overhead voice of GLaDOS provides the laughs and the puzzles ramp up at a slow but steady pace. Of course, Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4 are simply applications of the same shooting mechanics as in Portal, so moving on to one of the hardcore Xbox FPS titles afterwards is simple. Get your lady friend started on this one and prepare to see fuzzy companion cubes start cropping up around the house in no time.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting that The Bourne Conspiracy is coming out at this time, what without a movie to back it up. Many have seen these popular movies based on the Robert Ludlum bestselling Mystery/Suspense titles. And if you’ve never seen a Bourne movie that wouldn’t be much of a problem in terms of playing The Bourne Conspiracy.

In fact the main character doesn’t much look like Mr. Damon, the star of the present Bourne Films.

Mr. Matt Damon - as Jason Bourne in the Robert Ludlum Movies

I suppose that the makers of the film didn’t get the go-ahead to use the likeness of Mr. Damon in the games… which doesn’t much matter, since like James Bond/Sean Connery you’ll likely get many ‘do-overs’ in the future! I’m not much of a fan of the Bourne movies, having found them a bit dry, still I do wait for a good one to arrive and they are interesting.

But enough about the movies. Playing the game is more fun than seeing the movie. I found the game pretty compelling but not entirely exciting. The Bourne Conspiracy actually seems to be a complete look at the many plotlines of the three Bourne films. There is the time before the memory loss and much after as well. The game jumps from mission to mission, and if you are a fan of the films you will surely enjoy the play of actually putting Bourne through his killer paces.

There isn’t much down time to The Bourne Conspiracy, it keeps going on and on, and if you’re bored that’s a good thing. The cut scenes are pretty standard and you won’t find yourself following much along with the story. It’s funny but that I play so many games now, because of this site, but that the so-called ‘Plot’ doesn’t even have to exist in a Video Game for it to be good, in my opinion. It does set me back when I see a ‘game critic’ go on about story not being there… this from a guy who probably hasn’t read a book since ‘Catcher in The Rye’! So it is funny because I can easily go from place to place, without much bother, you just put me there, give me the gun, and I’ll do the rest! That’s become my attitude, in shooters especially.

In that this latest Bourne game is no different. I sort of recognized this and that but I’m just happy to complete the mission!

There is quite a lot of hand to hand combat in The Bourne Conspiracy. Of course we aren’t seeing a real fight. Fighting is unpleasant at any speed. Still it is interesting when games make the attempt. This is a little known area as yet, since most are focusing upon the guns/hardware more than the actual ’spirit’ of combat. At any rate, you get the famous ‘Combo’ moves that video games go on about. And it’s pretty maddening not to be able to move the character in a fluid manner. The ‘advice’ from the game is to choose from the light to heavy combo attacks and watch how opponents react. The game says that the opponents will react differently to your combos but I saw no change at all. One just has to knock the opponent down enough to get to the final cut scene, this in itself is entertaining, and I found out that it is best to use your kicking skill as much as possible, since the opponents are actually better at punching than you are! It becomes just a matter of ‘missing’ those punches and landing your own… not as easy as it may sound. Still, there hasn’t yet be a ‘revolution’ in this area. Hand to Hand doesn’t get much respect from Game Makers as yet!

The ‘old Sarge’ there was, if I remember, much tougher than the Demo I played a few weeks before! I had to do this one over a number of times until I got it right.

This was the hardest hand to hand in the game, I believe. This guy was really hard to finish! One of the good things about the game was that you could replay the scene as a trainee if it was too hard to complete as an Agent. I finally got fed up and put myself in Trainee mode for this one and finished him off! In real life, of course, a guy like that would have murdered me in, oh about, 30 seconds or so! So it is fun to fantisize!

Here I am hiding.

It’s funny but I didn’t realize that I could actually run until about 3/4ths through the game! I literally wasn’t aware of the so called 2-A Button. And I was thinking that I’d be sure to criticize the makers of The Bourne Conspiracy for not putting in the Run. Then I hit the button! All this time I was moving in slow-motion!

There’s quite a lot of shooting. Unfortunately the guns just aren’t that thrilling! The actual armor seems almost Pre-Hitler at times. With not much punch or power!

The best part of the game I’d have to say was the little Cooper Car moments. You’re with your girlfriend and she’s making those Video Game noises… it’s a pretty fun little ride, driving that little car around. I just floored it and was pretty pleased that the makers let the car go. In fact the look of London and the mechanics of the driving are really good, and a lot of fun. I enjoyed this zippy little part of the game.

My Zippy Little Cooper Car

So all in all the Bourne Conspiracy isn’t going to actually add anything new to the Ludlum Legacy in terms of bringing out some new story elements for Bourne, but as a game I felt it was pretty good really and not boring in the least. It’s a game that should capture your interest for a time, and if you in any way liked the movies I can’t imagine you not liking the game. Unless you were on the CIA’s side!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 11, 2008 - Those vaguely familiar with Capcom’s history might have been surprised on Wednesday when the company marked its 25th anniversary by releasing an advertisement and a letter from CEO Kenzou Tsujimoto. That establishes Capcom’s founding on June 11, 1983. However, Capcom’s own website and other sources place the company’s founding date as May 30, 1979, meaning that Capcom is actually 29 years old. So what gives?

IGN contacted Capcom USA PR director Chris Kramer for clarification and the truth is actually that there are essentially two birthdays. The May 30, 1979, date marks the establishment of I.R.M Corporation, which was “founded with the objective of developing and selling electric applied game machines.” In May of 1981, I.R.M. established a subsidiary called Japan Capsule Computer. It wasn’t until June 11, 1983, that Capcom Company, Limited was established “for the purpose of selling software.” So while the corporate roots of Capcom stretch back to 1979, the formal organization of Capcom was in 1983.

The past 25 years have proven to be quite fruitful for Capcom. The company claims 46 games that have gone platinum, or sold more than a million copies each. Its biggest hit is the 1992 fighting game Street Fighter II with approximately 6.3 million units sold for the Super NES. 1998’s Resident Evil 2 is Capcom’s second greatest hit, with 4.96 million units sold for the PlayStation. More recent hits include 2008’s Devil May Cry 4 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (2.3 million units sold) and 2006’s Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 (1.4 million units sold.)

Meanwhile, Capcom’s immediate future looks bright, with new games in the Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Bionic Commando franchises currently in development.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, actually he doesn’t really have much to say!

But he has a few tidbits about RE5.. the choice of Africa and the New Evil “Chick” with a gun!

But he looks and sounds like a pretty cool dude so check him out at our new Resident Evil Page

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to port this post over from Stuff. Yeah, well we are lazy but we work pretty hard I’d say. We thought you’d like to take a look at some of these cool toys. I know, I know it’s supposed to be about video games! Well play with these while watching that boring Transformers Video from last year!

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What could possibly be Cooler than a Celebration of EVIL!

And now with Resident Evil 5 coming to the Video Game World it got us thinking about how we could tie-in the cool new Evil video game. Well we love Toys here at Stuff, and although we show you some really high class things (after all we aren’t Gizmodo or Endgadget, we know there is more to life than a Cellphone!) from Unica Home lately, we are very juvenile and funny stupid, and yes in that very annoying manner! Nobody likes growing up, it’s a Drag, Mon!

Anywho you may wish to check out our Resident Evil Page over at Googads! There is a cool new video from the forthcoming game that you should see.

But enjoy now a few toys from Resident Evil from the Past few games that we have played here at Stuff. These are good presents for the wee ones! And goodness what better gift for young minds?!

This ones called Illuminados: “So there’s where Father O’Mally’s been hiddin’!” This one looks like a lapsed Catholic or something!

This one is Leon S. Kennedy the last Hero of Resident Evil in Part 4!

And lastly don’t forget to Red Bull Up with some Virus from Resident Evil! Well maybe you won’t become a Zombie if you drink this stuff. Still you’ll up your sugar count and look cool while doing so!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look in on our new Bad Company Page.

We Opened up a new page here at Lost Planet… our Resident Evil Page.  Please Take a look, we have the newest video up there.

 

 

 

 

 

Now we turn our attention to Free Radical’s Haze. As you may be aware we haven’t been ‘Active’ for too long on the Blog-o-Sphere with Lost Planet being our site for Video Games, we actually have quite a few blogs. And have been Reviewing Movies, Books and many other things for many, many years… even when there wasn’t an Internet in fact! But if you’ve been here you may know about our Haze Page!, which is under our New Games Rising Category on the Right Sidebar of the site. I feel this was a very good idea, as I intend to keep it where it is regardless… and hopefully there will be a Haze 2, which I’m pretty sure there will be. Haze just may be the Halo Killer that Sony has been looking for! So do see if there is anything new on the Haze page from time to time, even though it may be quite a while until the new development stage begins for Haze 2!

With that said let me now turn to Lost Planet’s Review of Haze. Haze is a very good start for a beginning game.

What is Haze about?

Haze is about the establishment Versus the counter-establishment. When the game begins we meet Shane Carpenter who has joined the ranks of Mantel Corporation, a multinational biotech company that fields its own army. This is a popular construction these days in video games… similair to Army of Two (Army Of Two - Lost Planet Video Game Review). The initial scenes are really off the cuff, you might say as we follow Shane with Squad leader Morgan Duvall, and Corporals Teare, Peshy, and Watchstrap. The ‘conversations’ between these hardened veterans of Mantel Coroporations Army are full of the usual Hyped up talk and dismissals, that our common to the situation…

As the game progresses Shane captures the leader of the Rebel Force, Gabriel “Skincoat” Marino, the leader of the Promised Hand who supposedly eats his enemies and wears a longcoat made of their skins. This Marino isn’t like Castro or Che Guavarra much, he wears a Cross and seems more Grandfatherly than would probably be required under ‘actual’ circumstance. He does go on about the usual nonsense, sentimentalizing life and coo-cooing about the need for togetherness and so forth, he hardly seems battle hardened and it rather amazed me that he was in charge! Still, with the way things are these days on the actual Earth, these weaknesses perhaps would be comforting to many!

Still, I didn’t respect Marino much…. he reminded me of a gardener more than a rebel leader. He would have been more interesting if he had skinned his victims alive and worn them! I’m not finding the prospect attractive, but good guys do no wrong, according to our surveys, society, media and government.

In fact I really didn’t ‘feel’ all that sympathetic to the rebel stance. The Mantel Corporation seemed a lot more interesting, sure they were drugged up on Haze and going nuts but they were a lot more ‘alive’ than Marino and his Rebels. One of the really funny things of Haze was this particular rebels voice being heard over and over again… I couldn’t stop laughing (“Remember your promise to, Morino!”) he would shout over and over at us! I don’t mean 5 or 10 times during Haze but about 350 times… and here ‘developers’ of ‘growing concerns’ (new games) should be aware not to repeat too much of the dialog. Silence is much more telling and scarier than these weird moral yelps from do-gooders with a religion to scratch!

That being said, Shane really had more to work with with Duval and the other ‘nut-cases’ over at Mantel. In fact it was quite a let down to become a Rebel. Mantel had the cool Drugs, the crazy killers (Duval and his boys) and a great air craft carrier that floated in mid-air. The Mantel Corporation shuttles were clean and smooth, whereas the Hand Rebel shuttles were really dirty and unattractive. Now that doesn’t really matter when something is at stake… and here we don’t really get a feel that much is at stake at all. So we’re in it for the laughs I’d say and why not go with a Rolls Royce instead of a Pinto was my view. Also, when Shane jumps over to the Rebel side I lost my Haze sight and my cool Mantel Gun which had a far better sight on it than the Rebel pieces.

The Mantel Magnum - A Haze Gun.

 

I was liking the Mantel Magnum much better than the Hand Knife.

 

Hand Rebel Knife

I must say that Haze will have to update the weapons a bit in Haze 2. There needs to be much more force and impact to such exciting kill machines! I do notice when a cool gun has a maximum destroy range! Dark Sector (A very good game actually, I couldn’t finish, but very ‘nearly’ did) had a better system of updating the force and skill of a weapon based on currency… and it gives you a breather from the game. The weapons simply are not that powerful in this first Haze! Shooters really have to have the Armor (for Armageddon! :P) more than anything these days!

The Rotor Gun

As the game continues, Shane, helps the Hand defeat Mantel. There is a good clip to Haze. It moves along is what I mean and luckily doesn’t take itself too seriously. I think ‘the guys’ over at Free Radical had a good time making Haze and their good time does show. Haze is receiving some really scurrilous reviews from game sites recently:

Its PlayStation 3 debut would be matched up against established FPS hits like Unreal Tournament 3 and Resistance: Fall of Man. After spending its first week on store shelves, however, Haze earns an unexpectedly low Metacritic-averaged score of 57 out of 100.

Matt Bertz at Game Informer rates Haze at 6.25 out of 10.

“The year is 2023, and Shane Carpenter is the newest numbskull to join the ranks of Mantel Corporation, a multinational biotech company that fields its own army,” Bertz begins. “Their secret weapon is Nectar, a supplement that gives soldiers increased fighting skills and a euphoric high that prevents them from experiencing PTSD.”

But then again these are the same people who reek of ‘game industry’ connections. Guys who are ‘plugged in’ and never quite ‘plug out’ when they should! These reviewers are not always reliable in the first place, since much of their ‘reviewing’ is constrained by advertising of the game makers who butter their bread. So on this rare occasion they decide to jump on ‘Haze’ because it is ‘acceptable’ since they got the ‘go ahead’ with their other like minded lunks! But they are not important anymore than a movie critic matters much anymore. I did notice that many game folk seem to like Haze quite a lot actually! And it outsold Grand Theft Auto IV just last week.

So although Haze is not without its faults it’s hardly a poor game. It’s a pretty good game and a good beginning for the Playstation to build upon its exclusive rights.

 

Haze Two?

 

Coming Soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember my post last week about that gay guy on XBox Live who had his “Gayer Gamer” username tag removed? Well, XBox Live knows no bounds when it comes to removing the gay word from our consciousness. Kotaku now reports that yet another videogamer with the G word in his username has been banned. His name - RichardGaywood, which is kinda funny if you think about it.

Unfortunately, it seems that it really is his name. Mr Richard Gaywood, who’s from gay old England, has even supplied a scan of his driving licence as proof that he hasn’t made up a gay name just to annoy any Christians who may be on XBox Live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The release of Grand Theft Auto IV has brought on all sorts of comments of the status of gaming at this time. “The revolutionary game that will change videogaming forever” is one of them, while others have been calling it “The Godfather” of gaming. So many outlets are ready to pinhole this game as the next coming to bring games to the mainstream as a permanent foothold.

I’m not writing this to discredit GTAIV because it is, in fact, a superbly technical game that deserves the praise it has been recieving. However, i can’t help but think that this “revolutionary step in videogaming” isn’t really something that attracts not only different gamers but different people in cultures. Specifically, this game shows the divisable rift that I feel legitimizes videogaming as the art form that it is striving to be.

For the past few years, there has been a secret skirmish going on in the battle lines of the hardcore gamers: the “hardcore” game versus the “casual” game. However, videogaming experts (senior writers and editors from gaming sites) have refuted that there is no such thing as “casual” and “hardcore” gamers: it generally is used to stir arguments on message boards.

I for one agree with this, but there definitely is a segregation of the types of gamers that exist in this medium. This type of segregation in entertainment mediums isn’t uncommon: In films, for example, there are “scholars” (viewers who love to dissect a movie on themes and messages), “buffs” (viewers who like to know as much about a film as possible), “thrill seekers” (those who love ‘torture porn’ or ‘horror movies’) and “chick flickster” (those who frequent chick flicks) just to name a very few.

For the longest time, gamers have been segregated just like movies: it just took Grand Theft Auto IV to show it to some people. Here are some types of gamers:

Graphic Whores - Let’s start with some of the more easily impressed gamers, a la “Graphic Whores”. Whenever there is some impressive graphical effect or some really good modeling or “realistic” rendering, these gamers of the night go completely nuts over the game. Set to believe that graphics completely add to the bravada of the game itself, these gamers want photorealism in its most purest sense to project a sort of “virtual reality” that makes you believe you are in the world you are currently running through.

These gamers fell in love with games like Shenmue for the Dreamcast, Metroid Prime for the Gamecube and God of War for the PS2, which are graphical put-outs with actually great gameplay. There are, however, those games that are truly faulted from a gameplay or design standpoint that truly makes these games completely for these types of gamers.

A recent example might just be Assassin’s Creed. The game’s setting was perfectly conveyed in a photorealistic view of Jerusalem. The beauty of the fields and the intricate detail of the buildings left an undeliable impression on many gamers…that is if you were not concentrating on the gameplay, which repeated itself one too many times to be as engrossing.

Graphic whores tend to be the most excited about system launches because they seem to buy into the raw power of the machines, even though potential isn’t fully realized until well after 2 - 4 years in the system’s cycle.

Graphic whores aren’t the equivalent of a movie-goer who likes to see “boobies and explosions” however. Graphic whores tend to see the very minute, little visual details of a game that other games seem to completely miss. To some, this seems highly inconsequential to a game. However, the slightest break of reality can be jarring for a graphic whore. These guys are usually the pickiest of the bunch when it comes to recommending games because, to them, the minor imperfections to some on the graphics tend to be huge red flags that can’t be let go

Technologicas - Unreal Engine 3. Renderware. Source Engine. Do any of these terms mean a thing to you? If they do, then you are a technologica: someone who systematically sees the pros, cons and defining characteristics of the engine. You can tell within 10 seconds that the people who made Dark Sector is using the same architecture that the people who made Gears of War is making. Or, that the people who created Portal is using a heavily modded physics engine of Source, whom Valve used to create Half-Life 2.

Technologicas can look at anything simple from a character model, textures or even just a way an object moves and can instantly say “ok, this is a Havok engine game”. Generally, these technologias have had interest in creating their own games or have made the step of learning how to create mods.

Furthermore, there is one key characteristic of a technologica: They play a lot of certain types of games. Unreal Engine and Source has clearly been used on many First Person Shooters, which is why most FPS die-hards are very familiar with the engine and its limits. Renderware works on a lot of racing games, so they also have defining characteristics.

Technologicas can also be minor graphic whores: like a piece of art, technologicas might be more impressed with a shimmer, shadow or how something reacts to its environment more than colorful, realistic graphics. They can fully discuss what makes a game like Boom Blox so amazing, when others might just see it simply as “a falling block” game.

Technologicas are very much a “show-me” type of gamer. Seldomly do they believe in “hype” or “buzz”, these types of gamers are instantly skeptical of any type of game without knowing the intricacies of how the game runs, plays and acts. Lastly, technologicas tend to be PC gamers, since there highly more likely to use mods.

Breathers - Immersive technology. Living, breathing world. Deep, involving storyline. Over 100 hours of gameplay. You’ve played over a hundred hours of playing as Tommy Vercetti, Commander Shepherd and the Hero of Kvatch. You believe a game should not only make you believe in its world, but have you experience it like its your own. You want to be a great hero worthy of praise or a dispicable person of little merit and of many fear. If these types of games are what you’re into, you are most definitely what I’d call a “breather”.

First off, a breather demands a good story with believable and involving characters. More often than not, breathers play RPG’s for that simple reason. Game engines, technology: hell, even graphics seem rather inconsequential if the story is worth going through. That seems to explain why some RPG lovers, after years of having the same turn-based battle systems, are still willing to accept that tired system if the story is still interesting.

Story might not be a factor to a breather, however: There’s a little something called atmosphere that can really envelope a breather in the game. It could be as little as a radio station on Grand Theft Auto III or the utopia gone wrong 30’s setting of Bioshock. Again, if the player can believe his place exists while the disc is in the drive, he’s in it for the long haul.

In fact, “breathers” may very well be the most relaxed gamers of these sects:: For years, they have been willing to drudge through archaic battle systems (Final Fantasy VII), atrocious camera problems (Kingdom Hearts), simplified game mechanics (Bioshock) and unexcusably bad controls (Resident Evil) to be fully engrossed in its said game.

The argument could very well be that “breathers” really aren’t “hardcore” gamers (or the least “hardcore” of the hardcore), they are entertainment lovers seeking the next great story or world to dive into, like Star Wars for film and The Lord of the Rings for books. They are simply just finding that next fix with games.

Statlies - Calculated. Detailed. May very well be obessive compulsive. Like the “breathers”, you love your gameplay deep, involving and to last a very long time. However, unlike your breather brethren, story and atmosphere is furthest in your mind. That is, unless, it has something to do with your character or avatar.

See, you don’t seem to care if your sister died or the fate of the world is in your hands. Nay my friends, all you care about is how this highly expensive sword is going to effect your attack/defense rating or whether this character your training is the right character for the job you just acquired. Or, if my formation has enough balance so my long distance magic users have enough coverage with my footmen against my enemies. You get pissed off everytime you neglect a single stat detail because you didn’t take into account 30 different variables that could effect your win. You are a “statly”.

“Statlies” can definitely be seen pinning for the next big strategy RPG, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea. They also can be seen playing simple strategy games such as Advance Wars, Carcassonne and Catan. It’s also very likely that they get excited for games like Fire Emblem, Dia Shayruka and Civilization. Outside of videogaming, it’s more likely they enjoy a game of Chess, Magic: The Gathering and Poker.

As you can plainly see, “statlies” seem to gravitate more towards strategy-RPG’s. However, don’t be surprised if these guys are caught drilling in multiple seasons of Madden NFL, FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer or any other types of sports games. These season modes, filled with signings, trades, morale and otherwise may be considered lightweight to most strategy gamers, but they seem to fill a nice void.

The one chief thing that defines a statly seems to be the consistent need to think. These are the type of gamers who don’t seem to get the popularity of such games as Peggle, Geometry Wars and Pac-Man: Championship Edition. To these gamers, the words “simple” and “accessible” clearly means “watered-down” or “inferior”.

Traditionalists - You started gaming 20, maybe 30 years ago. You may have seen the first Pac-Man machine when you were at a young age, being mesmerized by its colorful cabinet and strange glow. Hell, you may have owned an Atari 2600 or a Colecovision at one point.

Or maybe you’re not that old-school. Maybe you were young when the original Super Mario Bros. was released. Or when the Super NES and the Sega Genesis were constantly trying to battle each other for console supremacy. You distinctly remember your first arcade experience with Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat and Metal Slug. You’ve lived through all those controversies and have tried to convince your parents to purchase those games for you, despite the media warnings. You were there when Super Mario 64 was released…and was simply amazed.

Nostalgia might mean “old” to some, but to you, it means “classic”, “quality” or “timeless