i miss you

it's not that i don't like you, people who read my stuff, it's just been a hard time. too much going on, too much to do, not enough sleep, but i love you. you're my special friend. you specifically.

now, with that out of the way, here's the hizzy-haps no what's happening in games land.

firstly, my quest to get a copy of rock band is getting desperate. like, random ebay bids that i know will never win (but secretly show that i'm contemplating a purchase) bad.

sent my 4th e-mail regarding a review copy today to a slightly higher up EA contact, but don't expect a reply on that either. oh, and best buy are supposedly not taking pre-orders and EB will gladly take my money, but no guarantee me a copy of the game, seemingly ever. they told me to come back and check to see if i can get a guaranteed copy of the game. seeing as how i leave for home the day after it comes out here, it's not looking good at getting it legitmately. it's possible to get a copy for slightly over retail (plus $50 frigging dollars for shipping) as there are so many copies on ebay, i'm just still hesitating because of cost, immediacy to christmas and desperate hopes that someone at ea/harmonix will actually respond to one of my pleading e-mails.

i'm still going at ace combat 6, and for anyone looking to try it, it gets much better after the first level. the only problem it does suffer from is really shitty looking backdrops when you're up close (ie, when i crash;)) and very long, repetitive gameplay. i'm over half way and most of the game ends up being chasing around planes-shoot missle-missle misses-shoot more missles-get hit-take too much damage-fly for five minutes to land and get new craft-keep going. the missions can take up to 30 min to complete! it's kind of ridiculous but as the planes i buy get better, it does get slightly more enjoyable, i just can't stand playing more than one mission in a row.

i'm now looking forward to christmas very much, not for the presents, but for drinking scotch and beer with my parents, watching good movies, trying to convince my parents to play games (unsuccessfully of course) and various other sundry activities.

i promise to be more faithful to you people in the future but for now all i can offer is my undying affection, and my body. (or maybe the affection will do?)...

unceasingly faithfully yours,

JD

120 stars/desert bus for hope

still with the quick posts, as i emerge from the horrific carnage that was last week.

not much time for gaming, and i've come to a bit of a crossroads with which games to cover.

i'm still sitting on 3/4 of a halo 3 review, but, like the lazy person i am, lacking inspiration to finish it. i want to have a couple more to through into our gaming feature in a couple weeks (though it should be more like 4-5 ready by then).

here's which ones i'm currently working on:
-tony hawk proving grounds-not finding anything really new or innovative, mostly it's just pissing me off like they all have to some extent since th4
-battalion wars 2-played this a total of 2 times so far and it's hella fun just not as addictive as hockey-mario-or ghiii
-ace combat 6-andrew and i played this for an hour or so but found it desperately boring and long winded
-mass effect-loaned to drew for a couple days but still need to crack it in earnest.

but on the flip side, i'm nearing the 120 star full completion in mario galaxy. this is taking up way too much of my time, but it's the only game my fiancee jen will actively watch/participate in willingly;). it's true, the gameplay does not get boring or old after the star 60 and the original quest is done, it maintains and stays challenging and fun. though i've now started working down from the hardest to the easiest, and few games have illicited more expletives and shouting from me this year-unless you count multiplayer games of nhl 08, but who does?

lastly i want to draw people's attention to a charity that i really support (with money too!) called child's play. in a quick nutshell, instead of just raising more money for research into illnesses that are affecting children, they attack the main immediate problem of kids stuck in hospitals with nothing to do. they get hospitals near most big cities to submit wish lists of systems and games so that kids can get stuff they wouldn't' be able to afford or obtain normally, and allows them some self-sufficiency in entertaining themselves and having some fun.

an off-shoot event being held in victoria bc, is desert bus for hope. it's a hilarious concept. these guys have taken the released code from the never released penn and teller pseudo game, which was more a bunch of tricks you can play on your friends that was meant to look like a game, and they've decided to play one of the most gruelling modes for as long as people continue donating money. all the funds go to child's play, and they're now up to 98 hours of driving time they must spend on the road.

the game 'simulates' driving a bus along a real highway route along the desert for the actual amount of time it takes to do it. there is no end, and the road is slightly curving mixed with straight sections the whole time, making it impossible to cheat. it's one of the biggest 'in-jokes' in video gaming.

they guys who've been handling the 'bus' have already crashed 3 times (meaning they had to restart the trip that many times) and have been running the desert bus relay for 2 days already. you can watch a livecam from their site and donate money to keep their torture going and support a good cause.

revuuuuuss!

check em out me boyos!
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Guitar Hero III Review

Super Mario Galaxy Review

let me know what you think. i'm kind of excited about this stuff, but i'm still learning, i always feel like i am...

love and bricks,

JD

blatant craziness/zapper first impressions

today is shaping up for another doozie (doozy, doozi?). either way it's going to suck.

if you're wondering why no post last night/day it's because i was in the office til frigging, 7 o'clock, working on these 5 contests and a huge feature for PCWorld.ca.

On the plus side, one of you lucky people could walk away with a Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanner, a Palm Treo 750 Smartphone, a Brother WiFi MFC, a Kodak Digital camera or a frigging Viewsonic HDTV. choice products.

check out PCWorld.ca's contest section for that noise.

as for the zapper, this is a tough one for me.

when i heard they were making a gun peripheral for the wii, i was stoked. i was stoked beyond measure. all i could think about was house of the dead style action, or virtua cop, or some other arcade experience that would be amazing with a gun that's better than a light gun, wireless and that has rumble (kickback or just regular rumble features).

in reality, it's a solid gaming experience, but i'm not completely sure about the gun. it's only that the aim isn't one to one. if that were the case it would be perfect. i mean, don't get me wrong, i'm seriously enjoying link's crossbow training more each time i play it, but i think it will be a more full featured game (like umbrella chronicles, or my most anticpated house of the dead 2-3 comp. and ghost squad) that will be the decider.

well, it's been a rough day, so enter the contests, read my new reviews (there's three of them!) and take er easy on the roads. it snowed.

later motivater,

JD

i'm gonna zap things! zap, zap.

the hell week continues to be relentless. if you weren't aware, we are simultaneously running two websites this week: www.pcworld.ca and beta.pcworld.ca, so our viewers can write rude comments on both at once from the 20th to the 30th.

we're also putting together a fairly sizable feature on thursday (which is being organized by moi) and 5 contests for thursday (to go with the contest that launched today). as promised, here's the link to win an ipod by telling us what you think of the NEW pcworld.ca.

i sincerely hope everyone i know enters (except family, who are unfortunately not eligable) and if you don't want to read the blog, or go on the site (though shame on you to not even look for my articles;)), i've started a facebook group to let people know what contests are on pcworld.ca and will continue to put up links to each contest as we launch them.

on the games front, two reviews come out thursday, and links will be added to the sidebar when that happens. i finished up the main quest of galaxy (truly an amazing game) and got my guitar hero iii review done and ready for print.

i also picked up my zapper peripheral (almost solely out of a sick interest to try it and for the zelda shooting game).
!!!!!!!!
will post some first impressions tomorrow (or later tonight if i'm feeling antsy.

hugs, kisses and white fake plastic guns,

JD

don't adults get snow days?

this is going to be an extremely short post for me, as i've been excessively verbose as of late and i have way too much to do right now. i also have noticed that this post has nothing to do with the title, i'm just jonsing for the good old ontario blizzard and getting to stay at home all day, drinking hot chocolate, eating chips and gaming.

quick newsy news about me and others...

the PCWorld.ca beta site launches officially tomorrow and...

you could win an iPod Nano for telling us what you like/don't like about the new design. (assuming you're a) a resident of canada b)18 c)not related to me:), sorry mum and dad). link to follow tomorrow when the contest goes live.

i got a copy of Tony Hawk Proving Ground from the good folks at activision-along with a press kit full of photos and videos. Other devs, take note from activision, i shouldn't have to take my own screenshots of grab from offical websites.

I'm very excited to compare this to the Skate demo i downloaded to the 360 a couple of days ago. They seem like they're nothing alike, and after playing many hours of NHL 08 (with EA's improved skill stick - somewhat like the skate controls) and many hours of the skate demo, i don't know how the old tony hawk formula will hold up. and i've played every hawk game since the original on the 64. hell, i bought a ps just so i could play hawk 2. it was a defining moment for skateboarding and sports games when the th series blew up, and i don't know if there is enough room for two skateboarding franchises (much like the new NHL EA games have turned 2ksports hockey into a fringe series).

Later days, and faster rays,

JD

delayedness - rock band style

what's with the new fad in game design these days, delaying product and telling people that there's going to be stock shortages.

how is it that we can make 1000s of tvs, never sell out of cds, yet video game consoles and software are constantly running out or being delayed.

well the latest hit here is rock band. this is a game i've been super excited about, though still unwilling to reserve, due to it's steep price - in the over $200 for a game range.

well, now, after telling everyone that there would not be enough copies to go around, like virtually none, chris kohler, a man i usually enjoy and respect on wired.com's gaming blog, gamelife, broke the news that rock band was delayed for canada.

i don't understand the hositility chris. and i'm trying hard not to shoot the messenger, but dammmit. this is some b.s.

shell-shocked at best,

JD

i blame super mario galaxy

for missing a day yesterday. i knew it would happen. but staying up til 2 on the first night i got it, combined with a really long work day, and then more galaxy last night and poof! the window for a post was gone.

but honestly, i can tell you this, that you will not find a better looking, more satisfying wii experience this year than super mario galaxy. i'll let that sink in for a second.

i was not a fan of super mario 64. in fact, i was almost an enemy of the game, constantly crowing about how disappointed i was. i mean, there was some novelty at first (hey, mario in 3d! look, a goomba in 3d! is that...a gigantic bob-bomb...in 3d?) but the level design and poor camera hampered the game experience for me. it was just too difficult, too repetitive and too poor a follow up to the supremely excellent super mario world and super mario rpg on the snes.

but everything that mario 64 did wrong, galaxy has gotten dead on right.

let's do the list, shall we?

easy to pick up controls? check.
moderate learning curve? check.
easy first couple of levels that are still fun to play? yes.
satisfying goals that progress at a quick rate (as in unlocking doesn't take you half a day?) definitely.
great graphics (not just for the wii, in general)? yes.
awesome music, bringing old mario themes back in symphonic renditions? oh, hells yeah.

this is mario back to form. given, i haven't yet finished even the last boss, but this is not the same 3d mario at all. he runs and jumps way better than mario 64, more like the mario in strikers (the running, that is). and the puzzles are fun to do. there is the odd "that was so hard i don't want to do it again" one, but i'm having tons of fun getting somewhere in the game. not to mention the 2 player mode.

anyways, i have to leave some gas for my review next week. although, if you have a wii, and like mario reviews, we're giving away a copy of the game in conjunction with the release of my review...not that you should need any reward for supporting a novice reviewer, but definitely check out our contests, thursday of next week.

surprisingly full of headachy goodness, and now motrin...

JD

it'sa me!

if you can't tell from the title, that means that i'm mere hours (hopefully) (EDIT: IT's HERE!!!!) away from getting my hands on my review copy of mario galaxy. this may just pre-empt my going through metroid prime 3, battalion wars 2, and anything else. i'm super stoked.

the premise didn't grab me, a newer, next gen mario 64, a game i basically despised after the first few stars for it's horrific repetition. but from what i've garnered from early previews and reviews, this game does not suffer that at all. it's being touted as the best game since super mario bros 3 on nes (which is perpostorous, since super mario world was better...) but it's a good sign. i also know that jen is excited too and this will be a lot of fun (not to mention the available co-op mode!).

also got a copy of ace combat 6 last night, and it's another game i'm really excited over.

however, when i told jen that i was super stoked for it since i hadn't played a good dogfighting game in a long while (like since the good ol' x-wing vs tie fighter days during the first multiplayer online games) she thought i meant Michael Vick's Pitbull Challenge. i was a little disappointed, because yes, i want to play that game, but it infers that her first thought of me was as a watcher and not as a doer, like Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

Anywho, Super frigging Mario Galaxy just showed up, so in the immortal words of Eric Cartman;

Screw you guys, I'm going home *gestures towards door*

love,

JD

gaming news - update

two things i just noticed about the whole rock band/guitar hero thing (besides the fact that i can't get harmonix/ea to send me a copy):

1) cherub rock (smashing pumpkins) and probably some other songs are in BOTH games. is this legal?

2) rock band is now slightly higher on my list of must haves as, according to video evidence on ign, info which no previewer has yet to touch on;

you get to play the song that Timmy sings on the South Park episode where he joins a band (Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld).

Link


EDIT:

here are all the cross over songs JUST from Guitar Hero III and Rock Band (as in i'm too lazy to look up the set lists for ghi and ghii):
cherub rock - smashing pumpkins
mississippi queen - mountain
reptilia - the strokes
sabotage - beastie boys
paranoid - black sabbath
when you were young - the killers

rest guilt

i don't know what it is about my life now, but i honestly feel guilty if i come out of a weekend feeling rested and not more exhausted then when i went in.

i got a ton of stuff i needed to get done, but i also tried to take it a little easy and get more than 4 hours of sleep a night (as per my weekly routine).

finally finished halo 3. interesting ending. in fact, i was downright disappointed with the second last (more like third last) chapter of the game. but maybe i'm just not all about halo like a lot of people. the last two movements were pretty satisfying (sorry for the vagueness but i'm trying to avoid spoilers if anyone reads this post who hasn't finished the game). i'll try and formulate a real opinion on this before i have to write my review (which will be out very soon, will let you know).

got to play my first couple of xbox live games and was thoroughly satisfied with the experience. how is nintendo not watching this. this is how you do multiplayer online. no friend codes. and full chat. after my first nhl 08 game with my buddy will, i went out and picked up the messenger kit (so i could get a headset and not sit in silence listening to the announcers). in another bit of best buy gold, the messenger kit, with the brand new chat pad and original wired headset bundled, was the exact same price as the wired headset on it's own. wow, that's a great way to market the chat pad, but what about the poor guy who buys a headset only to figure out he could have got two things for the price of one. what the hell?

but really, i love xbox live, and it's going to be very hard to give back the system when the loan runs out...

started in on blue dragon right after. i asked for this game before i had received any (so i was a bit desperate) and knew nothing about it. suffice to say, this is a big learning experience for me as jen googled it and found out that it is an rpg that is over 50 hours of gameplay (created by the guy behind final fantasy) and is the first 360 game to span eight disks!!!!!!! dammit!

so, basically, between that and fire emblem, i may not be leaving my apartment for anything but work for a while. but i shouldn't complain, because it is fun, i just wish there were more hours in the day.

hoping to start battalion wars 2 as well tonight, and finally finish jen's and my save the dates for our wedding coming up this summer.

stay frosty,

JD

never trust a game store employee. ever.

this may not be a revelation for most, but i do have a new annoying story to add to the pile.

yesterday i was out looking for guitar hero iii extra controllers. this, was not a big deal. in fact, i wasn't sure i even WANTED to buy one, but i wanted to see if they were in stock and if it would be hard to get one (as i really wanted to try out the co-op career mode and battle mode in ghIII before i submit my review).

i checked the interweb before leaving the office for my lunch retreat (not for eating, as i work during my real lunch, but i sometimes go for a walk and window shop). eb is always a no go as they stock literally nothing, and you can never get a straight answer, but i thought for sure that i could get my regular level of great ok mediocre service at best buy. was i wrong.

the website said they had stock and sure enough, when i got into the store, they had nothing. i asked a sales associate, or ass as i'll refer to him henceforth, if they had any.

he told me 'we had a bunch earlier, i guess they sold out'. i thought about asking ass if he knew when the next ones would be coming in (as i wasn't sure if i even needed another one quite yet) but i quickly asked him if he was sure there weren't any since it said they had some on the web site. to save ass's feelings, i quickly qualified it with 'i guess the site could be wrong, or you could have just sold the last one...' but he got a perplexed look in his eye.

he said, just wait here, i'll check. check what? i thought you knew that the last one was sold? or perhaps you were just telling me what i would hear and get out of the store the fastest. no, not today...ass.

he comes back and tells me they have a couple and that if i'll wait here, he'll get me one. just to show that people want to buy their products, but they're too stupid to stock then, i hang around.

ass goes up a ladder and comes back with a stack of four.

i'm really eating this up now, shit-eating grin and all. in a complete dick move, though almost comical, i ask him 'so how many were up there?'.

'16' he says.

yeah. so when someone tells you that they don't have any, make them check. like every time. whether it's eb, bestbuy, gamestop, or whatever, gamers aren't given much respect. so make sure you ask if it's something you really want. chances are, we assume that they know and care.

JD

halo is finally getting interesting...

Don't mean to double post as a daily thing, but this is today's formal update.

Halo is finally showing some promise. The first couple levels (or chapters, i guess) were kind of ho-hum, find the switch, 'oh, i can just WALK through that' and general getting lost-ness. but now it's getting interesting with, and i'm sure i'll be corrected because i can barely follow the plot at all, but the 'flood' which are these wicked looking zombie like creatures, but more like the brain suckers in futurama. They grab unsuspecting corpses and re-animate them. they're a little freaky when you're in close quarters, but thoroughly more satisfying to fight than just sniping the brutes.

Am writing, currently, a review of the LG Shine, which is in notes stages right now. It's a pretty badass looking phone, if i do say so myself, though i'm not sold on bell's set of features (not really the phones fault i guess). they let you 'download' movies for $8 a pop, but i only figured out after that it doesn't even display the full screen of the phone and it's a one day rental. yep, for the cost of a movie at the WESTIN where i stayed in boston on a business trip, you can watch a horrible quality STREAMED movie on your phone, and only for one day. awesome.

but the phone seriously is pretty bitching, will post some pics tonight if i can remember.

now my only issue is finding enough hours in the day to get through the stack of games beside my couch. it's almost as intimidating as the stacks of books beside my couch during university. though they were easier to ignore :).

should probably get back to my work right now as i'm also writing a piece on the impact of the new youtube Canadian portal on Canadian companies and sponsors. it's kind of interesting but my guitar hero iii review, which will probably come out next week, should be a better read.

til then, my homies,

i pour a fifty on your behalf.

JD

oh! and i added links to some other cool blogs you should check out of my friends Jen the Journalist (who likes spelling and capitals WAY more than me) and GlenJM, a rad up and coming actor from Halifax I met while in school.

it happened on the way to work/crazy gore psychos

this won't be a full post, as i'll update later in the day, but i have to divulge on a crazy occurance on my way to work.

some dude, i guess who was discharged from the pysch ward a few days too early, went a little nuts on the subway platform at the stop where i get on to get to work.

i guess this kid, maybe 13 years old, threw a candy wrapper or something onto the tracks and this guy spots him (didn't see that part).

well he just launches into an incredibly intense expletive ridden diatribe that the kid 'better never do that again' because he's tired of 'little s**t's like you making my subway dirty'. then he asked the kid if he thought he 'was joking, because i'll rip your head off and s**t down your throat!'.

yeah, i'm seriously not paraphrasing here. 8am on a thursday morning and this pyschopath is telling a kid he'll defecate in gaping neckwound he will create, all because of a little litter. i think this guy has been taking al gore a little too seriously. it's not YOUR job to discipline every person with threat of death and corpse desecration.

well some guy invariably tells the guy to f-off and leave the kid alone, which was especially important as the guy had moved so that the kid was between him and the tracks. i was honestly getting concerned that he might push the kid in to get the wrapper. so kudos to you, the guy on the other end of the platform the risked being punched on his way to work to stop the dude yelling anymore at the kid.

just can't really comprehend how this all happened before i was really even awake. it just made me sick to my stomach.

slower day/new blog

I have decided that if I'm going to write something new everyday, and have no one read it, that I may as well do it in a larger format with fancy colours (black) and have it auto-feed into my facebook rather than keep writing notes and pretend it's not a blog, which is what it is.

The purpose of this exercise, barring someone who will listen to my every random thought as i come up with them, is also to let people know what i'm up to, how my job/career is going and what's going on in general.

It's meant to be informal and trivial and everything most people DON'T look for in reading material, but that i value at the utmost.

The news today is that I've caught wind that Activision are going to be getting me on board and providing games (following in suit with Nintendo and Microsoft's in house studios). This is GREAT! I will get a copy of Tony Hawk: Proving Ground and Call of Duty 4 to peruse on the loaner 360 i got.

The bad news is I'm starting to feel the pressure of such a large pile of games, all waiting to be beaten and subsequently reviewed.

This will sound like crap to anyone who is slightly envious of my self-defined role. Mostly, I'm having trouble justifying my complaints to my inner child, the 12 year old that thought video game reviewing would be the greatest job on the planet. He's pissed. He keeps telling me to suck it up.

But as it stands now, this is the damage (and I really will enjoy it, but the sheer hours are getting daunting...):

Xbox 360
- Halo 3 (don't think I'm even a 1/4 in. long game!)
- Guitar Hero III (beat on easy, almost done on medium, but need to find someone to try co-op with and go online)
- Blue Dragon (random rpg i asked for when I had no games lined up, haven't even broke the shrink wrap...)
- Tony Hawk: Proving Ground (just confirmed it today, will be coming soon)
- Call of Duty 4 (another epic, and a game that will take some time to beat. me=suck at first person shooters)

Wii
- Metroid Prime 3 (another big fps...)
- Battalion Wars 2 (really excited about this one, especially online)
- Fire Emblem (long rpg, what was i thinking asking for all these...)

I've also made a s**t-ton of inquiries about other games (particularly 3 e-mails already about a certain 4 player band simulation...) so there may be more coming.

And i've only finished 1 review so far. Jeez.

On the home front, we met the new landlords tonight. Other than a couple qualms about price (as they're not continuing our cable 'deal' that the last landlords gave us) they seem nice. Teachers. I think that sums it up if you know my family...

More soon, but have to start an article on the new youtube.ca Canadian portal.

Watch "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". You'll thank me later.

JD