Apples to Oranges

For about the last 6 months now I have wanted a PSP. My original reason for wanting it was I figured my only real expense was the initial start up costs of the system, a Pandora battery, and a memory stick. At the time I was looking at spending only about $100 total for all 3 things. I figured since I paid almost nothing for it I could take the risk of cracking the system and download my games for free. If I fuck it up it isn’t really a big deal to waste another $40 and get a new PSP 2000. But since my hookup got fucking shit canned at Gamestop, I am now looking at paying about $120 - $150 for a PSP 2000 system alone. So what do I do now?

Well since I am paying full price for the system I have to take a few things into consideration. Do I want a 2000 or a 3000? Both are one in the same with a few minor differences. One thing I do know is I don’t want a PSP Go because it just looks fucking gay and it has a smaller screen plus you lose the UMD slot. Also with the system sliding open, I can see it being more prone to break. The 2000 has the Darth Vader special edition PSP, which I can get for $120 used at Gamestop. But the 3000 has the Gran Turismo limited edition bundle right now for $199.00, which comes with the system, Gran Turismo, and a 2 GB Memory Stick. To me this seems like a decent starter package at a good price. Plus I would also be getting the system brand new instead of used, yet another plus. I guess the deciding factor would have to be whether or not I want to crack the system.

After long hard consideration of this I have decided that cracking the system isn’t worth it. Here is why:
• I eventually will end up with too many games, so many that I do not know what to do with
• With a huge library of games I can never focus on one from start to finish
• I can emulate on my computer and DS; so do I need to emulate on the PSP
• I will have to use outdated firmware
• Games are affordable because I would be happy with buying older games since I do not intend on using my PSP for other than playing single player games (not too worried about online play)
• I would not be allowed to play downloaded games from the PSN store without an extreme amount of work to do so if the system were cracked
• PSN’s store has an amazing library of download content for the PSP that I do not want to miss out on. Plus it is cheap.

Considering all of this I am going to go legit on the PSP. Now it is just a matter of which system. And to be fucking honest I really don’t care. They are both quality products. The only real difference is that the 3000 has some better hardware and technical features over the 2000, for example the display.

I would like the 3000 but I wouldn’t complain if I got the 2000. I would really like to know everyone else’s opinion on which system I should get, and why. Comment back with what I should do.

-Brian R.

samurai showdown...rpg?

I remember sometime in 1997 I had the option to get either a used Playstation or a used Saturn from Funcoland. My best friend had a Playstation with Crash Bandicoot, Twisted Metal 2, and Resident Evil and my brother and I loved hanging out with him because we'd always get to play some amazing games. We were really tempted to go the Playstation route. Instead, we looked back at the countless hours we spent with our Genesis and the Sega Channel (you can count on a whole blog dedicated to that amazing service next week), and decided to get a Saturn.

Within a couple months, I could already feel that the Saturn was on it's way out. The game magazines announced fewer and fewer new titles every month and the wall space at all the game stores was dwindling. In a sort of quest for some new games I ended up deciding to start importing Saturn games. And that's when I found it...Samurai Showdown RPG, or Samurai Spirits Bushido Retsuden. Clicking that link will bring you to a page of screenshots which you must look at.

It was probably about 10 years ago when I stumbled across this game on a hunt for a Samurai Showdown game. My 13 year old brain could not believe what I was seeing. At this point in my life, I was officially a gamer and I mostly played RPGs and fighting games. So for me to see a Samurai Showdown RPG was basically like the first time you ever jerked off...it was awesome. The battle system looked incredible. Instead of pressing "attack" repeatedly to grind through battles, you actually have to input special move motions like in the actual Samurai Showdown fighters. My mind was blown.

Unfortunately, I knew no Japanese and to this day refuse to sit with a translation guide to play an RPG that isn't in English. There was no way I could truly enjoy what people online were describing as an amazing mix of Final Fantasy and Samurai Showdown. I had no choice but to forget about it...until now. A decade later, I think I may actually be able to play this game. All I need is about $200 for a Neo Geo CD and a copy of this game. Some awesome dude is doing a full translation for this game that can be played on the Neo Geo CD. Check this video out and try to tell me this doesn't look cool as hell.



-Brian T.

Nobody Likes Sloppy Seconds

I wonder if writing a review for a demo is even appropriate but I just find it awfully convenient that the demo happened to be released a few short days after the reviews of the original Left 4 Dead. Like I had said before L4D has solid gameplay. Unfortunately I think that was the problem with the development of the original L4d; they focused too much on the engine and gameplay and focused way too little on content. I had hoped that with L4D2 they would have realized their shortcomings with the original and would take a potentially good game that just fell short, and improve on it. I think it would be easy because the workings were there, but they just needed to add a little TLC.

I was getting excited as the anticipation to play the demo grew as it was downloading. I feel you should all know that there I really want to like this game, there are just certain factors of the game itself that hold me back. So the demo starts and the opening clip gets me even more excited, but then for me it all goes to shit. It starts flashing all of the things to expect with L4D2. NEW CHARACTERS, 5 NEW CAMPAIGNS, and NEW GAMEPLAY MODES; wow I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a game of the year edition of the original Left 4 Dead with the extra download content all in one. But wait there was none of that fucking promised download content. Why, because it was turned in to a new Left for Dead. Then the disappointment starts to brew. So I begin the demo and instantly I feel that I am playing the original game again. No zoom on weapons, same run and gun, and same bullshit. Where’s the new guns, the new style of gameplay, where was anything new. Eventually I came across an assault rifle, which I couldn’t zoom with surprisingly, unless if maybe I was just pushing the right stick in wrong. They added melee weapons, which were fucking useless when being attacked by a horde of zombies but once you pick up a melee weapon, you lose your pistol. That was just fucking gay and stupid. So really what is new? They couldn’t have just made some map packs available and offer a download for a gun pack.

I know I know that this is just a fucking demo. But if I were Valve I think that since I already have a critically acclaimed game, I would not need to offer a demo to show off what can be found in the original. You would think that they would want to give a sneak peak at what is to come. Maybe not put all their fucking cards on the table, but just enough to get people whet. That is why I think they really do not have much to offer, or I could be completely wrong and the full release of the game will make me eat my words. Either way I am still going to give the full game a try because part of me still wants to like this game. I am curious to know what everyone else thinks of the demo so far, or hear any opinions that you might have in regards to Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2, which is set to release on November 17.

-Brian R.

Nobody Likes to be Ass Fucked

So I was just going to let Brian have the Left 4 Dead blog but with it being Halloween and all, and with my hate being so great for this game, I cannot resist. The problem is where do I start; and do I even fucking waste the time giving credit where credit is due?

I suppose I will start with the good, what little bit there is. Left 4 Dead has solid gameplay and controls. There you go, that is it.

What, were you expecting more? Like what about how the zombies constantly generate in a new place every time. Are you fucking kidding me? Is it mentally fucking possible to even remember where each zombie would generate from considering the mass amount that flock you at any given moment. Come on we are not playing Mario Brothers on the NES anymore. We have advanced enough to make sure that there is enough content in a game anymore to make it almost impossible to remember where enemies come from, regardless if it is random or not. Right or wrong, and that alone is not the only shit that was weak as hell in the game though.

Next we have the major lack of weaponry and the similarity and repetitiveness of every goddamn level. Does anyone remember in Clerks 2 when Randal described the story of the Lord of the Rings in about 1 minute? Well I will do the same but in about 10 seconds. Here we go. We start at the beginning, fill our ammo and fight for a health pack if we are playing co-op, regardless if you are out of health and almost dead, start running and shooting, and finally get to the last door, hopefully before some asshole closes it on you, and then repeat again. Fun right? Then there are the weapons. Talk about a huge let down, only 4 weapons and some grenades. Fuck the fact that the weapons are upgradeable; a fucking Uzi is a fucking Uzi. And really we should say that there are only 3 guns because who really tries to use the sniper rifle when you are being gang raped by a hundred zombies. Because of that this is how Left 4 Dead made me feel, gang raped for $60 worth of bullshit.

But we were all taught that we should learn from our mistakes. Hopefully Valve got this same life lesson at one point in time. In less than 3 weeks Left 4 Dead 2 will hit the shelves. Will I buy it though? No, but I am definitely going to rent it. I believe that everyone should get a second chance. Like I said the gameplay and controls were real good. If they add more weapons and change up the levels a little, then I think that Valve will have a real solid game on their hands. Lastly I didn’t think I should bring this up but should I mention that fact that Left 4 Dead 2 is probably nothing more than promised DLC for the original Left 4 Dead. Who else feels like this is a gang rapping? Let me know by commenting back.

-Brian R.

Zombies Ate my Neighbors

I was 8 years old when my Dad showed me Night of the Living Dead. I had never experienced actual fear until that point in my life. When I went to go to sleep that night all I could think about was what I would do if there was a zombie outbreak. Since then I have fallen in love with most things zombie related. A lot of people have. And because of this, zombies are popping up all over the place. And people are eating up all the bullshit. Anything with a zombie on it is automatic gold these days it seems. Though not as trendy and topical as vampires, the general consensus is that zombies are "in" right now. And leading the zombie army on the video game front is the wildly popular Left 4 Dead and soon to be released sequel.

If you think I'm about to suck this game's dick and sing it's praises, you're wrong. I honestly don't see what the big deal is. I will say up front that I have only had about a half hour with the PC version. I'd been super excited to check it out for months and when I finally got the opportunity, I was completely underwhelmed. It was just an FPS. The zombies were intense, but there was nothing truly scary. It was fast and...uh...there were a lot of zombies onscreen at once. But no matter what, I always felt like I was constantly just spinning in circles firing blindly at the ridiculous masses of zombies.

There's nothing that makes Left 4 Dead feel like legit zombie survival experience. Throwing a ton of zombies at me isn't going to scare me any more than if I was being swarmed by a hundred of anything. If 100 chickens were running at me, I would be equally scared. Personally I think that the Nazi Zombie mode in Call of Duty: World at War is the best zombie survival game I have ever played. In Nazi Zombies you're holed up in some small area fighting off waves of zombies as you rebuild barriers over windows and try to upgrade your guns.. You're fighting for your survival in a place you can't escape from..kinda sounds like Night of the Living Dead actually. Or Dawn of the Dead. Or Day of the Dead. And that's the way it should feel. Left 4 Dead has you running and gunning through a lot of zombie infested cities...kind of like Land of the Dead. And you know what? Nobody likes Land of the Dead better than Night, Dawn, or Day.

Essentially Left 4 Dead and Nazi Zombies are doing the same thing. You have four maps to choose from. You can play with 3 other people online. You fight waves of zombies with various guns. Unfortunately I never felt like I was up against a zombie horde in Left 4 Dead. I felt like I was shooting a bunch of zombies trying to get to the end of a level. Little things make a difference as well. For example, Left 4 Dead technically has 8 weapons whereas, depending on the map, you'll have at least 15 weapons available in Nazi Zombies. Left 4 Dead gives you infinite ammo on your pistol and you can dual wield them as well. There's no infinite ammo in Nazi Zombies so you always feel that every shot counts. Nazi Zombies is basically a mini game and it's better than Left 4 Dead.

I can't be the only person who has figured this out. Anyone agree? Disagree? Are you planning on picking up Left 4 Dead 2? Comment or tweet us and let me know! Also check back later in the week because I'm gonna be playing the hell out of surprise halloween themed game for a special review!

-Brian T

War What is it Good For

Up until Call of Duty 4 I was never much of a First Person Shooter kind of guy. With the exception of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom on PC, I hated FPS’s. Halo especially, which I still hate to this day. I played Bioshock when it first came out and didn’t like it. All because I had some hate towards FPS’s, I think I didn’t give some good games the play they deserved. And to be honest I think the hate stemmed from the fact that I fucking sucked at them. When Modern Warfare finally came out I decided to give them one more fare shake. Besides all of my friends were playing it and everybody kept saying how amazing of a game it was. So I bought it, got good at it, and now I fucking love shooters. And I’m pretty confident in saying I will fucking hand most people there asses in COD4 or COD 5. With that said maybe I should go back and revisit Bioshock now.

This last week I have been playing Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. This is a fucking cool ass game that I think should a got a little bit better of a rating across the board. Unfortunately I only had the opportunity to play the campaign mode because I was so stuck on that, I never got a chance to play any multiplayer online. Codemasters set out to create a game that simulated and presented the feeling of realistic all out war. With this installment of Operation Flashpoint, I think they have succeeded.

Bad Ass Shit:
• Open World Setting – Allows many options when confronted with challenges. Flanking enemies, going head on, or avoidance all together
• Real Reaction to Injury – Getting wounded in the leg makes you limp and you can’t run. If you are wounded in the arm you can’t steady your weapon as well
• Weapons – Very realistic. Switch from single shot, burst, or full auto. Grenade Launchers, RPG’s, mines, and various grenades. Gun firing ranges are realistic and hit detection is above average.
• Artillery and Missile Strikes – Fucking awesome. The look and devastation that is caused makes this an awesome addition to your arsenal when it is available.
• Vehicles – Flying a helicopter is like using a flight simulator
• Realistic Simulated War – This game can make you feel like you are really in combat

Shitty Shit:
• Sound Effects – Had the surround sound turned to “11” and still thought I should be feeling these explosions not just hearing them.
• View in Vehicles – Could only look forward when driving or flying. Thought you should be able to turn your head and look out the side windows.
• Button Layout – I don’t know if it could have been better or if I am just stuck on Call of Duty’s button layout.

Indifferent Shit:
• The Story – Sets up real well but once the game starts it is just mission after mission with no fillers. But realism is the goal and that is how it would be in real life.

I wish that I would have had more time with this game. Unfortunately Gamefly fucked me and didn’t send it out on the release date so I got stuck renting it. I could have almost bought it with the amount I ended up spending on late fees. But the real question is; is this game worth buying? For me I would have to say yes ...kind of. This game does kick ass. Even though I did not experience the multiplayer, from what I have read about it, the game there is some real potential there. Unfortunately the game is fucked by poor timing. If you’re like me with 2 kids, a wife, a full time job, and no money tree in the backyard, then you need to prioritize which games are a must. With Forza Motor Sport 3 coming out next week and Modern Warfare 2 coming out next month (both a must have for me), I would much rather wait until after Christmas when all the price drops start to happen. Maybe I’ll pick up a used copy then. That way I can fully enjoy the game in its entirety at my pace because this game is definitely fucking worth it. Has anyone else played it and agree/disagree? Comment back and let me know.

-Brian R.