WAR Excitement

Apparently, I am missing out on some exciting stuff in Warhammer Online. Not only are they having the Halloween event, but they are having an event called Heavy Metal where players can compete to have the option of playing the new classes early. They, the players, do this by completing special quests that are given daily. This is some pretty exciting stuff. Throw in the fact that they are also releasing a new albeit limited time only scenario, and Mythic has themselves an event worth trying out. I’m really excited for this event even though I can’t play, but I look forward to checking out the opinions of those who can play.

I’m impressed with the way Mythic is handling the issues in WAR. From what I have been reading, they seem to really listen to the player base and make adjustments where appropriate. The simple fact that they are introducing two of the four removed classes (Knight of the Burning Sun and Black Guard) so soon after release is amazing. I was seriously expecting to be waiting for an expansion before seeing these two again.

My hype meter for WAR is still really high. I have guilds in both factions already with people I’ve gamed with for many years in both and just can’t wait to get into it. I’m looking at about 84 days people!!

The Truth of Tragedy

The truth is things are easily replaced. I decided to buy a new PS3. I’m not Mr. Money Bags or anything, but it’s a worthwhile investment. I figure I will turn in my broken one and end up with a backup in case this horrible tragedy befalls me again. By the way, if it does happen again, I won’t be buying another PS anything. I also had an offer from my chief to trade one of my PS3s for a brand new, unopened 360, so I might take him up on the offer.

So, this is exciting news. My PS3 is on its way, and I will be able to finish up Dead Space and start on Fallout 3. Another reason I needed to get my PS3 issue taken care of is the fact that I bought the Dead Space prequel animated movie on Blu-Ray. I know it says it has a digital copy, but I really want to watch it on Blu-Ray quality. On top of all that, Little Big Planet is out, and even though I won’t be able to play online for a few months, I hear the single player mode is awesome! (Thanks Stargrace)

I Think I’m Going Japanese

Today I received the DS game ‘My Japanese Coach’. Yes, I am learning Japanese. I bought the Auralog program for it, but the problem is I just can’t seem to focus on learning a foreign language while I’m here. So, I bought the game. It’s pretty cool. It gives you a little test when you first start to see where you are at and you go on from there. The test put me on lesson four, but I decided to start at the beginning. The lessons are pretty easy (so far), and they accompany each word with a spoken bit, an option to practice pronouncing the word, and an option to practice writing the word. There are also games (of course!) to help you master the words in the lesson. So far, I have done a whack a mole style game, word search, and a multiple choice game. I only did up to level four because I had some work to do, but I am excited about getting back to it later.

Oh, The Horror

What a day. My PS3 decided to die on me. Well, it didn’t exactly die. It merely stopped reading any discs. I started browsing forums to see if there was a fix, but I got nothing. The PS3 Restore function didn’t work, so now I am stuck with a broken PS3. I called SONY and they said they could take care of it if I have the receipt, so I just need to find it. I’m pretty sure I kept it in the box, but then again, I could just as easily have thrown it away. I’ll end up sending it back to get fixed and have it sent to my house in the states. This really puts a damper on my whole gaming thing and perhaps this blog. I cancelled my Little Big Planet preorder but wasn’t able to cancel Fallout 3 since they were preparing to ship it. I thought about buying Fallout 3 for PC, but that was stopped when I noticed it had SecuRom on it. Jeeze… I know it’s just a disc check, but I have no way of getting online at the moment with my laptop.

That brings me to another point: the internet. We are apparently getting internet in our “rooms” for $75 a month. Yea… I hear it isn’t even worth it. I can email and add blogs using the net cafes computers. I’m not paying $75 for shoddy service. Oh well. I’ll be home in less than three months anyways, and hopefully, things will turn around. I’ll be able to play WAR, GW, TF2, BF 2142, and whatever else catches my fancy. I have even been thinking of picking up EQ2 again. I don’t know. It really depends on how much time I have and how much I like WAR.

Bleh..Spore

I had this whole thing written up on the movie Zeitgeist and The Venus Project (not a movie), but I realized it had nothing to do with gaming. The pic is what I was going to use for that post, so here it is.

I didn’t game yesterday due to the fact that I was engrossed with the two things mentioned above, but I did watch my chief play some spore at work. Despite the childish look to it, it seems like it could be entertaining. However, the DRM EA decided to include is kind of a ‘no way’ sign for me. I watched him do some typical RTS stuff like gathering and fighting. One thing that I thought was interesting was the way you befriend other tribes. He had to sit there and play instruments for their entertainment, and one of the instruments was a didgeridoo which tickles me a bit since my girlfriend is an Aussie.

Other than that, I have nothing.

Weekend of Un-Gaming

Most gamers love the weekends. It allows them to either A) Clock massive amounts of hours into a game or B) Get away from gaming and enjoy life. Not me. I don’t get weekends where I can clock time or get away. I am stuck working ten hours a day every day so we, as a country, can force our way of living onto a country that wants nothing more than for us to leave. But, that’s enough of that…

I actually did have some time off on Saturday where I was going to put some massive time into Dead Space, but we were in the midst of a thunderstorm and the power was finicky. It’s okay though since I did manage to hit Chapter 10, and I must say Chapter 8 was insane. I mean, I’m on an elevator and five of those things drop from above, and I am stuck fighting for my life until the thing stops. Wow… It was definitely an intense moment. I’d also like to point out some disappointing news I found by reading some PS3 forums. Once you beat the game, you are locked in to that difficulty mode? Man that really sucks. I had elaborate plans of how I was going to do a second play through on easy to get the One Gun trophy and build up my weapons some, so I could attack a third play through like I was Rambo or something. Oh well, good on EA for thinking about nerds like me who want the easy way. Hmmm…maybe I will just One Gun through Impossible Mode!

My other gaming adventure as of late is Baldur’s Gate II (yea my laptop sucks that bad). I’m not complaining though; the game rocks, and I got it for ten bucks (with expansion) off Amazon. I play this at work since there really isn’t much to do for ten hours at night. I’m only on Chapter 2, and I’m getting unmotivated from having to walk through the city and do all these “urban” quests. I like the outside world environments for my fantasy adventures. I’m sure it will pick up eventually, and it is a nice break from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 which I have been playing off and on since it’s release.

Jedi Madness Online!

I, of course, am talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic. I like Star Wars and Jedi, but man, this game is going to be swarming with them. Maybe that’s the point? I know Bioware says there is going to be other classes besides Jedi and Sith, but who is going to play them? Here are my concerns:

• Jedi/Sith overpopulation – Honestly, who is going to pass it up?

• Variety – Are there going to be multiple types of Jedi/Sith, or will we be stuck playing a very base class?

• World – This better be huge. I mean, it’s freaking Star Wars…

• PvP – Jedi and Sith are in the game. There better be some hardcore PvP

That’s pretty much all I have on the subject. The last Star Wars MMO was such a let down it is almost hard to believe it can be done right, but Bioware knows how to make a good RPG, so there is hope.

*Note: I’ll be all over this. I’m such a fan boy nerd…*

Release Day Shipping! Or Not…

Ever since Amazon introduced its Release Day Shipping feature, I have found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for a game to get to me. Sure, I get the offer, but unfortunately for me, for whatever reason, they won’t ship it to an APO address. This really doesn’t make much sense considering they do ship the game to me. What does this mean? Well, I have to wait five or six days after the release of a game before I can actually get it. By then, there are already walkthroughs and cheats posted on the net. Great… Oh well. I suppose I will just have to wait until November 3^rd until I can play Fallout 3. Plenty of time to beat Dead Space once or twice!

Lost in (Dead) Space

I’m not really lost in the game since a simple press of R3 shows me the way, but I totally lost track of time while I was playing the game for a mere three hours. Dead Space, so far, is amazing! The whole HUDless feature really adds a sense of immersion to the game. The graphics are great with shadows having you wonder if that’s an “alien” around the corner or just some object projecting a shadow. Sound…OMG. The sound is extremely intense! There are moments in the game when I hear the ‘oh man, something is coming’ music just to realize it was the lights turning on. I constantly find myself expecting to be pummeled by some baddie only not to be, and in turn, I’ve been attacked when I thought I was perfectly safe. Plus, I have been playing in a completely dark room since I live in a metal box void of windows, so you can imagine the craziness going through my mind when I hear some noise from outside.

I’ve only gone through two chapters and have collected five trophies so far (possible spark for replay?), but the game and storyline are all looking very promising.

The Glorious Arcane…

Priests of Fire store your power and bring me the effulgent beauty of Armageddon! Oh how I dance in joy amidst your 9+ Fire power of damage to my opponent and all his creatures. The battle shall be mine… Oh… I was just having a Spectromancer flashback.

After my stint on how I can’t game online while deployed, I happened upon a little demo on Greenhouse called Spectromancer. The game is similar to and, if I am not mistaken, developed by the creator of Magic: The Gathering. So, basically, it’s a virtual trading card game. The amazing thing about it is its simple graphical interface which allows me to play it online off my thumb drive! This is a big deal. You see, I can’t take my laptop to the closest, free net café here, so being able to play it off my thumb drive allows me to use it on the provided computers.

I played the demo version online for about an hour, totally losing track of time, and I felt hooked like I haven’t been since M:TGO. I also sat at work last night playing the sneak peek of the single player campaign and have decided it’s definitely worth the 20 bucks to unlock the whole game. Spectromancer has its downfalls such as will there be more cards or campaign options, but it is a fun little time passer that at least allows me the social aspect of playing online.

Maybe I’ve been out here too long and have lost touch with coolness, but IMO, the Spectromancer demo is worth the download.

On a side note, I added a review for Ninja Gaiden Σ.