World destruction comes in small shrink-wrapped packages...

2010/06/19

The Sims 3 Experiment: One House, Eight of the Biggest Gaming Icons Ever

I’ve played The Sims 3. There, I said it. Guess what else? I still have The Sims 3 on my computer – it’s been there for nearly a whole year.

I recently got back into it, and decided to do something which I dabbled in a while back. That was to create a family, although not related, of the biggest names in gaming, and put them in one house.

As of writing this I all ready have seven.

Screenshot-110 One is none other than Duke Nukem. Duke has been around for nearly the past two decades, and has had quite a few games under his belt- one of which was no doubt Duke Nukem 3D, his most successful  game to date, which still sells to this day. Duke is currently pursuing the Law Enforcement career in the house, with hoped of becoming a super hero.

Screenshot-111 The next one is Doom Guy, otherwise known as John “Reaper” Grimm, if you’ve ever watched the atrocious movie based on the series of games. Doom Guy entered the gaming market after Duke Nukem, in 1993 [Duke Nukem was in 1991], and starred in a series of games that revolutionised gaming for years to come, as well as establishing first-person shooters as the popular genre it is today. Currently Doom Guy is in the Military career, hoping to become an astronaut.

Screenshot-79Who’s next? Lara Croft. You couldn’t have a house filled with gaming icons without the Tomb Raider. Lara was probably the first real female character that you took control of in game, and had three big hits in the series – the first three games – before hitting a stumbling block, which was most of the entire series for the next several years. But, she came back in Tomb Raider Legend, and has since seen another two great additions to the long running series. Lara is currently pursuing a career in journalism [couldn’t get any adventure clubs or something, although they are probably present in one of the expansions, which I don’t have… yet].

Screenshot-121 The fourth one should be a give away by now, seeing as this in order of when they actually hit the gaming world. Yes, it’s the G-man. No, not that G-man, but Gordon Freeman from Half-Life. Gordon has never spoken in any of his games, and lacks that personality and attitude [although borrowed] of Duke Nukem. Still, he was the main protagonist in a series which saw FPS titles become more than mindless killing sprees, but added a little logic and puzzle solving in to the mix as well, along with characters that you actually game a damn about… instead of killing everyone. Clad in his usual science laboratory get up, he no doubt works at the science laboratory in the town.

Screenshot-118 The fifth one came just after Gordon Freeman in Half-Life, and that would be Garrett from Thief. Okay, so this guy is likely the underdog of the entire bunch. He’s been in three or four titles over the past dozen or so years [four if you count Thief Gold, five if you count Thief II Gold, which didn’t actually ever see the light of day], and is set to star in a true sequel in the series soon, Thief IV… or THI4F… or is it ThIVes? Anyway, Garret and the Thief series brought about a new genre in gaming, and that was the first person sneaker. Thief probably wasn’t the first game to do this, as Metal Gear had some of that sneaking stuff in it too, but Thief helped popularise it, and many games to this day, especially Splinter Cell and the likes, owe their gratitude to the series. No doubt, Garrett is in the Criminal career path, and likes to steal, or “mooch” off of other Sims.

Screenshot-108 The sixth one? There was a hint in the above paragraph. It’s Snake. Snake? Snake?! SNAAAKKKEE! Yes, Solid Snake from Metal Gear fame, with probably one of his best titles in Metal Gear Solid, of 1999. Solid carried on the appeal of the stealthy approach in games, sort of like Thief, but in a modern, militaristic universe. He has had numerous games since then over the past decade, some of which he didn’t even really star in, in a sense. Like Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, or MGS 3 for short, which saw Naked Snake take the main role. Snake is also in the military career, and also has natural cooking and gardening abilities, which he picked up from his dad, Naked Snake, or Big Boss.

Screenshot-126 Number 7 would be a character who also cropped up in the 90’s: SHODAN. She’s appeared in two games in the System Shock series, namely System Shock and the sequel, System Shock 2. She’s been voted as one of the best villains to appear in a game, and one of the greatest all-round characters too. She even has the greyish-blue skin, complete with blue and green hair just like in the games and has an evil personality comparable to the real rogue AI.

In the game, Shodan is climbing up the rungs of the political career, seeing as she eventually wants to become the leader of the free world, or the neighbourhood at the very least. And she’s going to make people suffer and have fun while she’s doing it too.

Who will be number eight? Who do you think? Maybe we should have a vote, and you can leave your thoughts in the comments. So many choices, and you can only have eight in a household unfortunately. I guess I’ll be starting new houses with other characters who didn’t make this list.

Candidates who are on my list to make the eighth member of the household include: Agent 47 from Hitman, B.J. Blazkowicz from Wolfenstein, and some others.


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2010/06/18

Trine 2 to Arrive on PC as Well as Consoles

Trine Trine essentially means three in French, from what I’ve learnt. Now there’s going to be a Three Two, or Trine 2. That probably didn’t sound that witty at all, did it?

Reportedly, on the Frozenbyte Community Forums, rumours of a PC version of Trine 2 have been confirmed.

"Yes. And before anyone asks, it will come to PC in addition to any other platforms. That's all we can say right now."

They also say that the soundtrack for Trine 2 will be new.

Trine was a nice enough game I guess. It was a good way to pass the time, and was pretty to boot. Not to mention it also reminded me of some old games I used to play.

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Source: Trine 2 PC Plans [Blues News]


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2010/06/17

Sniper: Ghost Warrior Appearing on June 29

SGW A few months ago, Sniper: Ghost Warrior was a game that I didn’t pay much attention to. Then I saw one or two trailers on the game and thought to myself: a lot of games feature sniping – but do they do it as the main sort of combat in a game?

Sniper: Ghost Warrior is set to come out later on this month if all things go smoothly. City Interactive confirmed that it has gone to gold master and will be available on June 29, 2010. The game is slated to appear on the PC and Xbox 360.

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Source: Sniper: Ghost Warrior due out on June 29 [Big Download]


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2010/06/16

Off Target: My Trip to The Strand

I wasn’t really feeling it today as far as blogging or writing goes. And here’s why. I woke up today and was asked straight away if I wanted to go with my bro to the strand. So I ended up being ready before him as usual, but we headed out at about 140 Kph to get to his site of work in time – only to find that the people that were supposed to be there were also late.

After about half an hour sitting and waiting we headed off the the beach front. The Strand is known for its warm waters due to the Pacific Ocean, but I didn’t dare venture in to the sea today seeing as we’re knocking on Winter’s door and it’s bloody cold and all. I took a few pictures though, including the old GB anchor symbol which my dad says stands for General Botha, painted on the mountainside. It’s still there after all these years.

Some say it stands for Gordon’s Bay. They’re wrong. Well, partially.


We headed over to the flea market afterwards where they were selling World Cup paraphernalia, naturally. They wanted R10 for a crummy little flag on a stick, but I guess you can forgive them seeing as they have to pay to rent the stalls.

Anyway, I ended up scoring a good deal and got an England flag for R30, which according to the guy who told the lady who sold it to me off, was worth more – probably about R50. And my brother got a UK flag for the same amount.

Hell, we had to put up with a lot vuvuzelas as well, which I hate. It’s one thing hearing it on the TV, but when the locals start blowing them a few feet away from you, it’s something else.

I went over to Steers after that where I got one of those rib burgers that they rave about on the TV all the time. It wasn't that great, but I was starving anyway because all I had for breakfast was this little cocktail roll with some lunch meat in it. I didn’t know they made rolls that small.

We then headed back to the site where my brother works to check that the boys hadn’t spent the money that were given to buy spades on KFC or something, and to see that they were working.
After that it was back home where I skipped supper, took a nice hot bath and went to bed again for a short kip, before waking up and going online. Back to the daily grind.
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Video Game Deals at Amazon [June 16, 2010 Edition]

Spring 360 bundle This week has a nice big deal going. You can get the Forza 3/ Halo 3 ODST Bundle for the Xbox 360 for $50 off. Other good deals include Prince of Persia for the PS3, and Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. As always, check below for the best deals and then the rest after that.

Links go to game detail pages at retail and digital distribution outlets like Amazon and Steam, etc. You can also check out my Amazon aStore for the latest and greatest games released this year.

VGDs feature on AAA once or twice a week with deals at least $7.00 [R50] or more making the big list. Deals which are $10 or more make the best deals list.

Best Deals:

Xbox 360 Elite Spring 2010 Forza 3/ Halo 3 ODST Bundle - $249.99 - Save $50.00 [360]
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - $29.99 - Save $16.86 [PS3]
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - $39.99 - Save $16.00 [360]
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - $19.99 - Save $15.46  [PS3]
Need for Speed: Undercover - $19.99 - Save $15.33 [PS2]
Madden NFL 10 - $19.99 - Save $14.61  [PS2]
NCAA Football 10 - $19.99 - Save $13.88 [PSP]
Madden NFL 10 - $29.99 - Save $13.67 [PS3]
Dawn of Discovery - $29.99 - Save $12.10 [PC]

[Mac]

Hidden Mysteries: White House - $8.25 - Save $8.29

[PC]

Dawn of Discovery - $29.99 - Save $12.10
The Inquisitor [Game Download] - $6.99 - Save $8.00

[PS2]

Need for Speed: Undercover - $19.99 - Save $15.33
Madden NFL 10 - $19.99 - Save $14.61

[PS3]

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - $19.99 - Save $15.46
Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard Bundle - $49.99 - Save $10.00
Def Jam Rapstar - $59.99 - Save $10.00
NCAA Football 10 - $29.99 - Save $9.99
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - $29.99 - Save $16.86
Madden NFL 10 - $29.99 - Save $13.67
Rock Band 2 Special Edition - $80.85 - Save $7.15

[Xbox 360]

Xbox 360 Elite Spring 2010 Forza 3/ Halo 3 ODST Bundle - $249.99 - Save $50.00
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - $39.99 - Save $16.00
Tekken 6 - $19.99 - Save $7.00
Iron Man 2 - $39.99 - Save $9.95
NFL Head Coach 09 - $10.00 - Save $8.49

[PSP]

NCAA Football 10 - $19.99 - Save $13.88
Madden NFL 10 - $19.99 - Save $9.01
Army of Two: The 40th Day - $29.99 - Save $7.00
Secret Agent Clank - $19.99 - Save $10.00

[Nintendo DS]

Steal Princess - $17.95 - Save $9.00

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Sources: Amazon - Nowinstock


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Darksiders PC Delayed a Few Months

Youth Day [SA]

Darksiders There was good news earlier on in the year which concerned Darksiders. A PC port of the console game was scheduled to arrive sometime this month, and would be developed by Vigil Games, while published by THQ.

But now listings at retail and digital distribution outlets seem to say otherwise: the game is pegged now for a release sometime in September, with Amazon saying September 16, 2010.

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Source: Rumor: Darksiders for the PC delayed to September [Big Download]


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2010/06/15

X-Com Games Week at GamersGate

Last week was Stalker Week over at GamersGate, but this week sees some classic PC games that are on sale. You can get both for under $3.00 each.

X–Com: UFO Defence, also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown, the very first title in the series, as well as the sequel, X–Com Terror from the Deep are featured as games of the week. Both titles are from the mid 90’s, and fall under one of the most popular TBS, or turn-based strategy, series of the time and perhaps all time. In fact a lot regard the original as one of the best video games ever.

So get them while the deal’s on.

X–Com UFO DefenceX–Com Terror from the Deep

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Source: GamersGate [via Twitter]


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Apocalypse Then: Mortal Kombat 3

mortal-kombat-3 It was fifteen years ago, in 1995, that the third game in the legendary, lengthy Mortal Kombat series was released: Mortal Kombat 3.

It was developed by none other than Midway, released initially on arcades, with the ports handled by Williams.

I remember that I first played it when I borrowed it from a friend of my brother’s years ago. I gave the game back a while later, but I’ve actually still got the manual for it. I was so taken in my the drawings and diagrams in that book that I traced the picture of the new Sub-Zero, the younger unmasked brother of the other Sub-Zero [or Noob Saibot] in it and hung it on the wall in my room.

One thing that many didn’t like about it was that it replaced or simply left out a number of favourite characters in the series, like Scorpion and Reptile, and most of the other ninja like fighters that were present in previous incarnations.

Mortal Kombat 3

This was remedied when Midway updated the game with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which put those characters back in. I remember playing that one at my neighbour's house years ago. Then after that it was updated for a second time to bring what was considered one of the last great Mortal Kombat games: Mortal Kombat Trilogy. A game that I still have and occasionally play to this day.

It was also more westernized than previous MK titles in character design as well as arenas in the game. Smoke was the hidden character, and was one of three cyborg characters. All of the characters in MK3 were digitized rather than a combination of digitization and hand drawn sprites. The soundtrack also had more of a westernized feel, with instruments sounding like guitars as well as drums.

Animalities were a new addition to series in this game, as well as Mercy.

MK 3 also inspired the second and least appreciated movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, with characters like Stryker and Kabal referenced, as well as others like Rain and Ermac.

If you want to play a classic, you can get Mortal Kombat 3 here at Amazon.


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Red Dead Redemption Not Getting a PC Port… Yet

rdrtr2 Red Dead Redemption came out last month for consoles, and pretty much garnered some of the most impressive review scores of any game this year, save for Mass Effect 2 perhaps.

Now, I never even thought that the PC would ever get a PC port, but Rockstar has spoken of it, and basically says that there aren’t any plans to do it right now, but wouldn’t completely rule it out as a project further down the line.

"As of now, there are no current plans to bring Red Dead Redemption to the PC platform. If that should change, we will let you know."

Most of Rockstar’s other titles, especially the GTA series, has seen console games come over to the PC – eventually. Sometimes it takes a year or so though. So maybe it’ll happen next year.

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Source: Rockstar


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2010/06/14

Metal Gear Solid: Rising Box Art, Details – Solid Snake MIA

MGSR Here is the leaked box art for Metal Gear Solid: Rising – a game that is meant to arrive sometime this year. It first cropped up on Xbox Live Marketplace reportedly, but was soon pulled.

The game will put the player in the boots of Raiden, the protagonist from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. And guess what else? It’s coming to the PC! This will be the first game since MGS 2 to do so.

In related news: Snake? Snake! SNAAAKKEE! That’s a famous line from Metal Gear Solid if you didn’t know. Why I put it there is that Metal Gear Solid: Rising may very well not feature the famous hero from previous games.

Raiden David Hayter, who gives the character his gruff raspy voice in the English version of the games since MGS, said that he hasn’t yet been contacted to do any voice work in the game.

"I don't know if I'm doing Metal Gear Rising. Nobody's contacted me about it, so I have no idea. They usually call me once the Japanese game is done and they're starting to get into the English translation. So we're not completely done, but it's on its way by the time they get in touch with me."

The game is said to be shown at E3, with more details to come.

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Sources:

Voice Of Solid Snake Hasn't Been Contacted For 'Metal Gear Solid Rising' [MTV Multiplayer]

MGSR Box Art [CVG]


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If you had to Play One Game in Your life, What Would it be?

This was a question that was posed on the The Verge a while back before it went on this whole two month hiatus nonsense. If you had to play one game in your entire life, what would it be? That means ONE game, and that was the only game you ever got to play for some reason. Maybe you just weren’t that into gaming, or you died a premature death. Just use you imagination.

duke3d It’s a tough choice, but in my personal opinion, it would be Duke Nukem 3D. Why? Out of all the games I could choose, why DN3D?

Think about it: it was arguably one of the greatest shooters of the 90’s. It was technologically advanced for its time, and had interactivity that rivalled games to come for years – maybe even to this day.

Duke was also the first real character in a game, especially as far as FPSs go, that had any sort of personality as well. It wasn’t the first game to have vocals and that sort of thing, but Duke was the first I remember that actually talked and made comments and so on. And they were bad@ss ones too, even if they were copied from movies and other places.

duke_nukem_3d_06

                   Oh yeah – there were the strippers too. Weapon raised, indeed.

Yeah, some people hate the game or the character for those very reasons [like Bruce Campbell]: because it copied movies and games and so on. But I’ll admit that I probably hadn’t even seen most of those movies back then. I was young, and to me it was pretty original, ironically.

I’ve said before, and I’m not ashamed to say it either, that Duke was one of my childhood icons, alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (favourite wrestler and actor respectively), as well as others. Everyone had a favourite actor, and I would say Duke is one of my favourite video game characters of all time.

5

                             DN3D on EDuke32, with the HRP and Polymer

But you look at the game today, and you see it has one of the most dedicated fan communities out there. You see how they’ve made it look so much better with all the source port wizardry, and the High resolution textures, as well as numerous mods and maps that have been made for it. You just can’t help but be amazed.

I still play the game to this day – it’s just one of those games that I feel has had incredible longevity, even if it’s been given a makeover and a facelift. Playing with all those add-ons makes up for the sorry lack of a sequel [apart from Manhattan Project] – and we all know the story about what happened to Duke Nukem Forever.

There are numerous others that would have made the top ten list, but the one and only game that I could have played would probably have to be Duke Nukem 3D. Hail to the King, baby.

So, now’s your chance. If there was one game that you could have played in your entire life, what would it have been?


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2010/06/13

Video Games Coming out This Week [June 12-19, 2010]: Toy Story 3, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers

     MagicTheGatheringToy_Story_3

Not much in the way of big releases this week. It’s E3 this week and there will be a huge amount of reveals and stuff going on there to make for it.

There are some interesting titles though. Take a look at Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers which is available via digital distribution this week – one year after the XBLA release. If it’s one game that’s intrigued me for years, it’s Magic: The Gathering. I remember dabbling in it years ago, and I’ve since toyed with similar things. I even have the Magic Set Editor.

The other game that comes out this week is Toy Story 3: The Video Game, which is out on multiple consoles. This no doubt ties in with the movie of the same name.

Available links go to game detail pages at retail and digital distribution outlets like Amazon and Steam, etc. You can also check out my Amazon aStore for the latest and greatest games released this year.

[PC]

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers [Steam]
Making History II: The War of the World
Pro Cycling Manager - Tour de France 2010 [Digital]
The Book of Unwritten Tales
Toy Story 3: The Video Game

[PlayStation 3]

Gundemonium Recollection
GundeadliGne
Hitogata Happa
Mahjongg Artifacts
SBK-09 Superbike World Championship
Toy Story 3: The Video Game

[Xbox 360]

Naval Assault: The Killing Tide
Toy Story 3: The Video Game

[Wii]

Bejeweled 2
Dance On Broadway
Kid Adventures: Sky Captain
Let's Play Ballerina
Let's Play Garden
Toy Story 3: The Video Game

[Nintendo DS]

100 Classic Books
A Kappa's Trail
Dance on Broadway
I Spy Universe
Legend of Kay
Let's Play Ballerina
Let's Play Flight Attendant
Let's Play Garden
Telegraph Crosswords [DSiWare]
thinkSMART
Toy Story 3: The Video Game
Western Riding Academy
Yard Sale Hidden Treasures: Sunnyville

[PSP]

Toy Story 3: The Video Game

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Sources:

The Release List of 6/13 - 6/19: To Infinity and... [Shack]
New Releases Week of Jun 13, 2010 [Gamespot]


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What does AAA stand for?

It's not an abbreviation of anything. It just means the best of the best... 

"Well, now you know the truth: Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade!"

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