It’s funny how some things work out. I was battered into buying Dragon Age Origins by multiple friends telling me I’d love it. Turns out my friends know me too well. I’ve spent longer playing it than most of them and only Disgaea 3 has cost me more of my life (well apart from when I was young and games didn’t track how long you played them).

Anyway, the first thing about Dragon age: Origins is the choices available. You have the usual choice between 3 races, humans, elves and Dwarves and 3 classes, Warriors, Rogues and Mages (unless you’re a Dwarf) and there’s plenty of customization to be done once you pick.

Initially you play through one of 6 different origins stories depending on your race and class.  From here on the real choices that affect the whole Dragon Age world begin.

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I’ve been asked a couple of times for advice on visiting Japan and so I thought I’d just blog it and send everyone here.

I’m no expert, I’ve twice visited Japan, the first time was a hectic 9 day self-tour of Tokyo, Hakone, Kyota & Osaka. The second, a more leisurely 9 days in Tokyo as part of the Manga Tour of Japan which I definitely recommend although you should definitely have a few more days in Japan afterwards. http://www.japanjourneys.co.uk/manga.htm

Anyway, this isn’t a proper tourists guide to tokyo, more a anime/toy collectors guide and a memory jog for the next time I go but hopefully you may find it useful. Please feel free to let me know if anything has since closed down.

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Up until two weeks ago my favourite game of 2009 was definitely, and without doubt Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is the Batman game I have been waiting twenty years to play. It has absolutely everything you can want in a Batman game and the best production of a game you can hope for. All of the artistic elements are there that make Batman a thoughtful super hero, as well as some of the best voice acting I have ever heard in a game. All that before we even get onto the game play and story.

All of these things should make this the best games? Until two weeks ago you were right and I was ready to fight to preserve it as the best game I played all year. But all that has changed. While it is still the high point for me in terms of stealth/action/super hero games there is now one game that does all of that, but only much better. (more…)

No not in that way….well maybe I am a bit hehe. What I’m referring too is my preference for playing games on easy mode <gasp> I hear you cry and “What a noob!” (if your harsh) but yes I play on easy and I always will.

No I’m not a casual gamer in that I only play on the Wii on weekends, I don’t play Sing Star once every six months round someone’s house and I certainly don’t like playing Who wants to be a millionaire on the tv at Christmas.  I’ve played games for over 20 years, I’m not elitest or showing off but I’ve played a very broad spectrum of games including many obscure and weird games (mostly Japanese). What this all boils down to is, I’ve been around a bit (gaming wise) I know my stuff but I choose to play games the way I want.

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Tried out Modern Warfare 2 on the XBox

I entirely missed the first installment of this series. I have never been a great fan of the “Call of Duty” games, I always preferred the “Battlefield” series. I have always preferred the more open aspect of that series over the tightly scripted world of COD. I have also never been a huge fan of WWII games, they are interesting but I get the feeling they are unnecessarily limited (hence my enjoyment of jumping into a tank in Battlefield).

But I was in a supermarket, there was the last copy of the game in the shop and it was cheap, so I picked it up. Nikobe is always telling me what a great game it is. I liked the idea of the various perks in the game, not only the ones like the gunship but the ones that beef-up the useless players in the game seeing as that is the area I live in.

I know this is not going to win me any friends (and maybe the ire of the fan boys) but I can’t say I am impressed. (more…)

A simple, but fun game for XBox

Just released on XBox live is “Trials HD” a very well done motorbike trials game. After getting the demo I was hooked on this game. Its instant fun factor is evident from the start, and while it initially appears very simple it is actually surprisingly hard to master.

But this game threw me back to one of my most favorite games of all time, and game I played when often over 15 years ago on my ZX Spectrum. That classic game was called Kikstart, and it has more than a passing resemblance to this new title on the XBox.

With a pedigree like that, how could I resist buying it? (more…)

Street Fighter: The Legend of Fail, I mean Chun Li

The second official live action film based on the Street Fighter video games is possibly the most mediocre action film  I have ever seen.

That said, I will buy it on blu-ray just for the awesomeness of Balrog.

There’s an awful lot wrong with this film from a Street Fighter fan’s point of view but as a stand alone film it’s not bad, just average, from the competant but not great fights to the glory of Balrog and an RPG which really sums up a lot about this film, it shouldn’t really have been called Street Fighter at all really.

Of course there’s also the question, how does it compare to the original live action film?

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Street Fighter IV is an awesome fighting game, easier and more recognizable to SFII fans than SFIII but still done so that a skilled player can destroy a noob faster than you can load a fight if you don’t do the install…

Anyway this isn’t about how good it is, or even the few things in it that aren’t so good, I’ll do a proper review later but there’s something annoying me much more than I have to rage about.

The Ken/Akuma Fighter IV Pheonom.

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Does a shrinking economy mean less game time?

The grim reality is upon us. The economy is shrinking and that means we all have to think about tightening our belts a little. With any luck we will all be able to keep our jobs, but we feel the pressure to cut back on what we are spending. Spend on more important things, or save some money (I’m no good at that). But what does that mean for our gaming habits?

I know for one I am seriously reconsidering my game purchases. The most recent game I got was “Street Fighter IV” (can’t believe one of the others guys have not put up a review.. I might have to stick up my own twisted view on it if they don’t soon!).

I have to hand it to the guy at “Game Station”. He was pleasant (not the normal grumpy guy who seems to hate working in these shops.. how and why do they fill those jobs?) and he was knowledgeable. A real fan, and it was nice to see. He also pulled an excellent piece of “up selling” on me. I am usually immune, but this was “Street Fighter”. (more…)

Street Fighter IV is out and I am loving it. I have no doubt the others will put a great review of it and I am looking forward to what they have to say. But with Street Fighter coming back into my life after a long absence it has made me realise 3 things:

1. The computer is a cheating git, pulling off moves you have no way of doing yourself. Proof
2. I was once good at this game, now I am nothing but a noob
3. Cammy remains the best character

Chun-Li and Ryu get all the attention but for me (and most fans I know) Cammy is always the stand out favorite. Maybe its because I am British, maybe its because she is a complete psycho. But she at least has a back story and some characters traits that make her a little more than the 2 dimensional Chun-li. (more…)

This is an interesting game, every magazine online and off gives it huge scores and yet apparently it hasn’t sold well at all outside of Japan. I have to admit, I played the demo and wasn’t that impressed.  I can tell Sega exactly what went wrong though, the demo was not focused on what should have been the main selling point – the phenomenal story. I haven’t got to sleep before 3am since getting this… (more…)

Who doesn’t like Ghostbusters. If you say you don’t it means your a witch!

Ghostbusters the game is coming, and it is looking like it might actually work. Not just work, but actually be a piece of genius.

Tis the Grizz - "Rock Band, it's just better"

While Sideswipe happily sits between Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I am committed to Rock Band. Why have I switched to Rock Band when I have played Guitar Hero for much longer? Not only do I prefer the look and feel of Rock Band, but because I am sick of being ripped off. While both try to tempt you to spend all your money the best they can, Rock Band doesn’t try to punish you for supporting their series.

Look at the two latest versions of the series (Rock Band 2 & Guitar Hero World Tour) and they are almost the same game. Guitar Hero are now blatantly copying what Rock Band have done and just repackaged it in there own look and feel. Both are now full band games (2 Guitars, Drums, Mic). What more can be said? for all intents and purposes they are the same game. The only thing that is different is how they behave and how they respond to you.

This is where Rock Band takes the lead.

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Mini followup to my first post.

The Season of Games continues, 20 days later and I’ve finished one game (quite an achievement for me) and started to play two more.

Fallout 3 – (Completed) Was the first game of the season and I enjoyed it allot, very immersive experience with allot of really nice idea’s with only a few glitches and limitations to hold it back from perfection.  Took me 34 hours to complete and I think I skipped about 25% of the side quests (I can live with that), I actually completed the game at level 18 (max is 20) so missed out on the level 20 achievement points so after watching the ending I reloaded an old save and went back to level up so I could say its fully complete and move on.  I will probably go back and play the game again at some point (at a slower pace) as a bad female character to see what the dark side of the game is like.

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DSi, the replacement for the DS Lite, a replacement for the original DS

I have been a fan of Nintendo for a long time. Ever since I was lucky enough to get an original two screen Donkey Kong pocket LCD game. I missed the NES because I was busy cutting my teeth on the ZX Spectrum and Atari ST.

But I can still clearly remember Christmas day 1992. Came down stairs, and there waiting under the tree was a large box. I already knew.. or at least hoped I knew what it was. But I diligently opened my other presents first. That box would be saved for last. Went through the usual, socks, some clothes, the new Beano and Dandy annuals.

Then it was time… I had waited long enough and I could not take it any longer. I started in the corner, peeling the paper away and seeing on the black background of the box, the bold Nintendo logo in red. I had it! I rushed to pull the paper off. There is was in all its glory. The Super Nintendo, Street Fighter II bundle. 16-Bits of pure goodness. (more…)

While I don’t own Guitar Hero World Tour, I know a man who does. Pre-ordered from play and got the full set including the free Guitar Hero 2 wired controller (nice).  Anway I’ve had a long enough play through to have a good judgement on the game. We canned it over the weekend and have done more than half the gigs.

The New Guitar

Very nice, the design is similar to the GH3 with just a few refinements – it has a big button easily used for star power. That in itself is a wonderful move.  The d-pad is replaced with a mini joystick – also fab.  There is also a touch sensitive slider which you  use instead of the strummer and use for crazy solos. I’m no guitar hero but I haven’t been able to use that successfully yet. Worthless. (more…)

Left 4 Dead was not as much fun as I had hoped for.

Last night I finally got to play “Left 4 Dead”, a game that I have been waiting almost a year to play. The premise is simple. You and a group of three others are stranded in a city over run with zombies. But not just zombies all manner of other evil incarnations built around the theme. You have to get out of the city, and the only way you are going to be able to do that is by working as a team. You must stick together, help each other, or there is no way out. With emphasis on team work, you are supposed to play the game online with three friends, and make a real team effort. Having waited so long for it, and coming from a developer like Valve, I though this would finally marry my love of First Person Shooters and Zombies in a glorious whole of a game that could not be beaten. Unfortunately I was very wrong. (more…)

Here’s the long winded tale of how I saved money on my 360 renewal. Hopefully you can learn to do this the EASY way unlike my way which was definitely the irritating way… So here’s what happened:

• MISTAKE #1 – I did not change my payment type
• MISTAKE #2 – My credit card expired
• MISTAKE #3 – See MISTAKE 1
• MISTAKE #4 – I was autorenewed and billed on a credit card that doesn’t exist

So after getting an email saying we couldn’t bill you. I went online and picked up a prepaid card (SMART, VERY SMART). Unfortunately there is a problem. A very needless one.

The Problem

Once your credit/debit card has been billed there is NO WAY to change the payment type. The option is there but when you enter in the code on the card, it says to contact customer sservices (or just rejects it if you try on xbox.com).

The Idiotic

Here’s an interesting challenge – try removing your credit card details from the 360 or xbox.com. You CAN’T. You can change to another debit or credit card but if you don’t want MS to have your card details, once you’ve put your card details in there is NO WAY to remove them! I found this out THE HARD WAY. I rang up M$ customer services and foolishly spoke to accounts and billing, now I’m not trying to insult all Americans, but the idiot American girl who really didn’t sound bothered while dealing with my call (I work in a front line call center btw – I know a thing or two about customer service and this was a disgrace) told me to just remove the credit card from my account on xbox.com (which firefox reports has an invalid certificate by the way – it REALLY didn’t want me to go to the page – threw up a number of warnings). Anyway, after 10 minutes navigating round the billing section in circles as it would only replace the credit card not remove it I gave up. Why? IT CAN’T BE DONE and tells you to call them!

Let’s Try That Again

I rang M$ again and this time went the cancel my account route. This time I ended up with the polar opposite, an Indian who was BRILLIANT. She a) Understood my problem b) Cancelled my Live account and then re-enabled it so I could use the prepaid card – i.e. completely resolving my issue and c) was not only polite, also talked to me about games. Ok she was trying to sell Gears 2 but hey, it passed the time while she did the account maintenance.

The moral of this story is simple

Be smart, change your payment method for X-Box 360 Gold from credit card while you can. Automatic renewal costs £39.99. Buying a renewal card on play.com costs £35. Buying a renewal card from a play trader costs £27.99 or going direct to one of the traders is even cheaper £26.99 if you use http://www.instantxboxlive.com I went via a trader but next time will just go direct for that little extra saving. Took about 4 hours for the email with the prepaid code in to come.

Final Rant

So don’t pay more for the convenience of auto-renewal, don’t think for a minute either that it’s for server costs either. If it was recovering your profile wouldn’t take 20 minutes on a 20mb line for a 6mb profile. Nope, all we’re really doing is paying to replace all the RRoD 360’s that break because M$ used cheap parts…

Yoshi’s island is probably one of my favorate games of all time, a bouncy platform game spin-off from the Mario World series with a lovely hand drawn visual effect for every single 2D sprite and backdrop in the game.

LittleBigPlanet feels very much like a modern equivilent the game uses a hand crafted style with hand stiched characters and backgrounds along with cardboard cutout monsters. The whole game has been designed to look like children have built it out of whatever is laying around, such as toys, blocks and even skateboards.

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Every year its the same, we have a video games drought through the summer when everybody is supposidly outside skipping and playing rounders. Autumn comes and the video games industry decides its time to flood the market with the best games all at once in a tide of expense and lost classics.  I say lost as allot of these games get sadly forgotten as people can only pay and play so much in this busy time.

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I’ve always been a fan of the Mario Kart series and owned all of them (I think) on various formats. I joined the party late when I bought a SNES just as it was dieing and people were thinking the Mega CD was the good idea. I picked up a cheap copy in Electronics Boutique (now GAME) for about 15 pounds (strange keyboard doesn’t have pound sign..) and rushed home to see what all the fuss was about. I had a minor obsession back then (and still do a bit) with any kind of spite scaling or 2D warping tricks like the SNES’s “Mode 7″ effects so Mario Kart was a dream come true after the basic effects of the Megadrive (Genesis in the states).

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