Love the Gold Box

I just bought Fallout 3. I got a good deal from Amazon. I called GameStop: used for $53 and change. Even with my 10% discount it does not beat this price ($40). I just finished Resistance 2 (post coming) - I'll start Fallout after I complete Bioshock. I check the Gold Box every morning...

World at Peace (my hope & prayer)

A little late in posting this, but I finally finished the Call of Duty: World at War campaign (end of March 2009).

Good game; definitely on par with COD4:MW. But I think the newness of the COD experience was gone. The game play was great; the environment was beautiful because it was old and gritty. The story was OK – a little campy at the end. I feel I would have enjoyed my character better –Dmitri – if his story was not interrupted by the Japanese story line.

I thought the gore was over the top in COD:WaW. In fact, it may have been glorified. The cut scenes with actual footage – which I liked – had actual executions and battles. The enemy deaths were more graphic: blown apart and missing limbs. You stab the Japanese solders in the neck when they try to stab you – and when you use the bayonet on them, the blood rushes from their heart. I didn’t like using the flamethrower – you actually hear the screams of the thrashing soldiers as they burn to death. At the entrance to the subway, you decide how two German prisoners will die. Treyarch may have been trying to teach gamers about the horrors or war (I watch Saving Private Ryan every Memorial Day for the purpose. “Earn this.”). At the end of the game, just before the credits, “60 million lives were lost as a result of World War II” is written on the screen. Having this appear after the final victory didn’t work for me.

The addition of zombies is great – and ‘Nazi’ zombies are somehow better (“Nazis! I hate these guys,” Indiana Jones). This mini game is much better with a friend or three. And ‘Thank you’ Treyarch for the new Zombie level.

I guess the best part of World at War is the on-line multiplayer. It’s so additive and so rewarding. I like that there are no classes unlike KillZone 2 or Resistance 2 – it’s just simpler. It takes some time to find your weapon load-out for each map and devise a strategy. And I like the After Gameplay statistics – I wish there were more. I have not reached the first prestige yet – it takes a long time – but I am close.

FroZone 2

Sorry. I think I got too cute for the title: "KillZone 2" plus "Frozen." I hope the rest of the article is better. I am playing the Killzone 2 campaign – and really enjoying it! It took a couple boards before I realized how good it was. Then a horrible thing happened. I was working through the Cruiser board (the turret was fun) and just about to finish the level when the game suddenly froze. The only way out was to turn off the PS3. Not too bad… yet. When I restarted the game, it happened again at the exact same spot. Now I am in trouble. I tried different things, including restarting the level – but it always froze – four times in total. I went to the Web for help. My solution came from the PlayStation boards: Thread: Campaign Freeze To get through the level, I needed to delete any game updates (patches). Ahhh, it was a happy moment when I moved on to the Maelstra level. (There is a great "vehicle" in that board.) It seems like this only effects the Asian version of the game.

It is also interesting to note that a Guerrilla Games producer Seb “motherh666” Downie replied to my post. It is encouraging that they are monitoring the boards to improve their software. GG has made my list (along with Insomniac and Infinity Ward) of quality developers. I wonder if Seb lives in the Netherlands (about GG).

I’m on the last level now – I’m going slow – I don’t want it to end. But end it will and I will post my thoughts and memories on the campaign.

Does 'Rhythm' contain a vowel? Oh, "Sometimes."

I live a tough life. I spend all day working for The Man and all night taking care of my family. Then, with the few moments I have at the end of the day, I become Anguissette on the PlayStation3. The above paragraph is not true. I enjoy working for The Man and my family enjoys playing PlayStation with me. So, I have been playing a lot of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. (I play my M games after everyone is in bed.)

While on guitar, I can play any song on Medium. I just can’t get down to the orange button. So my fingers stay on green, yellow, red, blue and I play whatever they throw at me. Many songs I would complete 100% if I was not trying to manage my Star Power (Overdrive). I’ve basically finished both games. (I am not going to play the Endless Song List 2 on RB2 – six hours without pausing, no way!) I’ll probably fill out a few trophies on RB2, but since I am not going to Expert, I won’t get them all. I have not played the on-line format - you can play with others or against them. None of my friends seem to be into Rhythm games. (You are? Then send me a PSN invite. PSN ID: Anguissette.)

I’ve discovered that playing with others is a ton of fun. I’ve had guests over – many with kids – and we all play. The adults seem to come out of their ‘proper’ shell and let it loose. From alternate lyrics (“Excuse me while I kiss this guy”) to drum solos – I’ve seen a stuff that will turn you white: Mr.P, I’m thinking about you singing "Eye of the Tiger" . I’ll probably pick up another guitar before the next ‘budding young rockers’ come over. I’ve had trouble with the GH4 drum set: the red pad does not work. To Red Octane’s credit, they did send me a MIDI to USB cable. I tried to adjust the sensitivity, but that did not help. I’m going to try the return-defective-equipment route before attempting the ‘internet fixes.’ I’ll let you know how it works out. Until I get a replacement, we simply use Lefty Flip so the red does not come up that often.

I could not pick a favorite song – I enjoy so many. Paramore, The Killers, The Who, A7X, GnR, and Kent (VinterNoll2) are what I can remember. Not only is a good song important, but also how the game play translates: you need to feel like you are really playing along. So many other songs feel like the Simon game – just follow the lights. If I practiced my real guitar as much as I’ve played Guitar Hero, I’d have millions of dollars and hot-and-cold running chicks.

What to buy in Sinapore?

While in a mall called Vivo City this past Sunday, I happened into an electronic store. There, on a 42” LCD, was Killzone 2.

“That’s right,” I thought, “It came out this week!”

I quickly scanned the shelves: No KZ2. I looked for more games: No KZ2. I asked the chubby (very rare) salesgirl: “Not yet, only the demo. Maybe in a few weeks.” The energy drained from me; there went my idea of owning a Chinese copy of Killzone 2.

The next day (Monday), I went out in the evening with a fellow gamer. Karen owns a PS3 (a white one!), but plays very different games than I do. She likes Final Fantasy and RPG style games. She took me to Sim Lim Square: 360,000 square feet of electronic stores! We looked through the whole place and found only one copy of KillZone2: at the Sony story. So, for S$80 (about US$54 – no bargaining with a new release in the Sony Store) I purchased the English/Chinese version of KillZone 2. (I used my PlayStation credit card.)

It’s still in the shrink-wrap sitting in my hotel room – mocking me. I told myself I will not open it until I get home (I want to surprise ElMico). My plane is scheduled to arrive after 10 PM Friday night (06Mar2009), then I will join Alpha Team and teach the Helghast how to hold a StA52 Assult Rifle!

Anguissette in Asia

While here in Singapore, I had the awesome privilege of having dinner in a coworker’s home. I enjoyed a wonderful ‘Northern Chinese’ meal. And my coworker’s wife, Linda, was a pleasant hostess and a beautifully charming woman.But why am I telling you this in my PS3 blog? They also own a PlayStation3. It had been over 17 days since I last played my PS3 (no, that’s not 100% true: I played briefly at a duty free shop in Sydney airport). My fingers were itching to get back to the action. First let me tell you about a difference I found. The actions of the X and O buttons were switched – most notably in the XMB. This drove me nuts because I had to think rather than zip through choices by instinct. It also appeared in all the in-game menus – Select and Back were swapped. It must be a difference between the USA and Asian builds of the software. I began playing Little Big Planet. I introduced another co-worker to video games – she claimed to have never played them before. Starting with a cute game like LBP was the right move; very soon she was in full control and navigating through the beginning levels. Thank you ShuYun for letting me introduce you to the joys of gaming. Everyone in the room was laughing at the antics and actions of Sack Boy and Sack Girl. We made it through 2 ½ continents before switching to the more mature Call of Duty: World at War. My co-worker – who is farther than me in story mode – had never played multi-player online. I only played two games of DeathMatch to introduce him to the concept; then we moved to split screen co-operative mode. The violence, foul language, and subject matter did not have the same crowd-pleasing effect that LBP had. (LOL) We quickly switched to passing the controller around while playing some arcade classics. What a fabulous evening of food, fun, and friendship. After laying siege to North America, “Anguissette” has gone multinational from Singapore. Gamers are the same wherever you find them – except for that X and O swap.

Absense makes the...

...gamer more aggressive! I will be away from my PS3 for a few weeks: I am going to Sydney Australia (for fun) and Singapore (for work). So "Anguissette" will not be on PSN until March 1st. The flight to Sydney is 14 hours! And the flight home from Singapore is 19 hours! I'll survive by sleeping (Ambien), reading (La Reine Margot, Blink, and Philip K Dick book), and my PSP (God of War: Chains of Olympus and Patapon). I know it is not relative to this blog, but maybe I'll post some pictures when I return.

But when I get back, Look out!

The Merlion and "Durian" building in Singapore