I thought I would take a minute and discuss the Heavenly Sword demo that was put on the PlayStation Store last week. This is just my opinion, and nothing more.
Now, the demo sucks. The game isn't that bad, however. In fact, it plays rather well. But the demo itself is pretty bad. And I'll explain why.
First, it's way too short. You'll spend maybe five minutes playing it. The second reason is that it's the same exact section of the game we've seen for over a year. We saw it at E3 2006 in the first gameplay demonstration. And we've seen it at just about every gaming event that Sony has been part of since then. The only difference is that you get to play it.
The demo may not have been so bad, if it gave the player something new to see and do, instead of the same piece of gameplay that we've seen in video form for so long. And maybe if it was a little longer, it'd be acceptable.
As for the actual gameplay, the game plays rather well. The right analog stick is used for dodging, much like God of War. The controls have two attack buttons, no jump button, three fighting stances (the default Speed stance, the Range stance (hold L1), and the Power stance (hold R1)), a special move button, and a somewhat context sensitive button.
So, I'm hoping I'm making sense, here. The game is pretty good. The demo isn't. But that's my opinion. I'm sure other people were more than happy to get their hands on just that little bit of the game. Personally, I'd rather have had the demo take place in another part of the game we haven't seen yet. Which would be just about anything else in the game.
The PS Store is a bit lacking when it comes to demos, especially demos released before the retail version, but the Heavenly Sword demo is disappointing. Then again, I'm not exactly overly excited about the game to begin with.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
I already suck...
So, I figured I'd spend this past weekend playing MGS Portable Ops (or MPO as it is apparently known) while I was away on a three day vacation with my wife. You know, relax around the hotel, break out the PSP, play a game whose storyline I was destined to laugh at, write about why I like the PSP better than the DS (mostly a screen thing), and turn it into one of those cool blog posts where I riff about games and mix in some interesting anecdotes about what I was doing (I had a cool story lined up about playing the PSP in the hotel bar while I downed $9 drinks).
Well....that got shot to hell fast. Firstly, because the MPO disc I rented from Blockbuster didn't work (reason #482 why I shouldn't have canceled my Gamefly account) I had to return it for the Splinter Cell PSP, oh, sweet irony. Well, I had no desire to talk about that, and ended up spending most of the weekend playing the Sega Genesis Collection and watching GUTS on Nick GaS (the worst channel name ever). Secondly, I ended up coming home Monday to find the new Harry Potter book on my desk. So I spent all day Monday and into Tuesday morning (bout 1am) reading the book. So, Tuesday came and there I was, exhausted from lack of sleep and with nothing substantial to talk about in video games. I decided to let the day pass and maybe post something on Wednesday if an interesting topic came up. Sadly, the only thing that really caught my eye in the video game world was the sudden "The sky is falling!" syndrome with the Xbox 360. And I had no desire to discuss that because there was nothing to discuss. It's the same old overreactions from a video game community that has a long, proud tradition of overreacting. Big deal. Then, to top it off, I ended up having to go sign up for my fall classes yesterday afternoon (a 45 minute drive one way) and that pretty much shot my day.
So, to cap it off, I had a relaxing weekend broken up by my inability to secure the game I wanted to play followed by my inexplicable decision to stay up till 1am to read a book from a series I only partially like, then ended up not having anything to discuss and ignored my new blog for almost a week.
As I said, I already suck.
Hopefully, I can do my WoW idea this weekend. I talked to my wife about it (who is an integral part of that plan) and she seemed lukewarm on the idea, but I have faith in my powers of persuasion. I also happen to think that I might be, finally, getting a PS3 on the near horizon. So, hopefully, I'll actually have something to talk about there in the near future.
Well....that got shot to hell fast. Firstly, because the MPO disc I rented from Blockbuster didn't work (reason #482 why I shouldn't have canceled my Gamefly account) I had to return it for the Splinter Cell PSP, oh, sweet irony. Well, I had no desire to talk about that, and ended up spending most of the weekend playing the Sega Genesis Collection and watching GUTS on Nick GaS (the worst channel name ever). Secondly, I ended up coming home Monday to find the new Harry Potter book on my desk. So I spent all day Monday and into Tuesday morning (bout 1am) reading the book. So, Tuesday came and there I was, exhausted from lack of sleep and with nothing substantial to talk about in video games. I decided to let the day pass and maybe post something on Wednesday if an interesting topic came up. Sadly, the only thing that really caught my eye in the video game world was the sudden "The sky is falling!" syndrome with the Xbox 360. And I had no desire to discuss that because there was nothing to discuss. It's the same old overreactions from a video game community that has a long, proud tradition of overreacting. Big deal. Then, to top it off, I ended up having to go sign up for my fall classes yesterday afternoon (a 45 minute drive one way) and that pretty much shot my day.
So, to cap it off, I had a relaxing weekend broken up by my inability to secure the game I wanted to play followed by my inexplicable decision to stay up till 1am to read a book from a series I only partially like, then ended up not having anything to discuss and ignored my new blog for almost a week.
As I said, I already suck.
Hopefully, I can do my WoW idea this weekend. I talked to my wife about it (who is an integral part of that plan) and she seemed lukewarm on the idea, but I have faith in my powers of persuasion. I also happen to think that I might be, finally, getting a PS3 on the near horizon. So, hopefully, I'll actually have something to talk about there in the near future.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Custom Soundtracks
I was over on the official PlayStation message boards the other day, and I saw someone posted a supposed image of a PS3 menu, the kind you get when you press the PS button in the middle of a game, that had "Select Music" on the menu. The image was a photo of a screen, on an angle, and somewhat blurry. The person who posted the image said it was proof that the next PS3 firmware would include the option for custom soundtracks.
Well, the latest firmware was released early Tuesday morning, and no such option was mentioned in the release notes, and I couldn't find it, either. So, assuming the image is legit, either means it's from a game that supports custom soundtracks (meaning the PS3 has support for it already, but games have to utilize it), or it's from a still upcoming firmware release.
Either way, I don't really care that much. Which brings me to my topic for today, custom soundtracks. What is the big deal with custom soundtracks? Is it really that important to be able to listen to your own music?
Almost all games I've played have a wonderful soundtrack. And in most cases, the soundtrack fits the game much more than anything I could possibly come up with. I can't imagine wanting to play anything else when playing the game. I mean, who would want to listen to Fallout Boy or Ozzy Osbourne while wandering the realms of Oblivion, for example? It completely takes you out of the game experience. I don't see any reason to play my own music when the game provides a fitting and sometimes beautiful array of music.
The only games I want my own music in are the Electronic Arts games that have that "EA Trax" stuff. EA Trax, in my opinion, is consistently the worst music in gaming history. They seem to like taking some of the worst music (with a few gems here and there, though rare) and plastering it all over their games. From EA Sports games, to Need For Speed, and others. In these cases, I'm begging for a way to play my own music. Or at least a way to turn that crap off. EA, stop being lazy and make your own music. Or at the very least, sign decent artists. If you can't do that, just let me import my own songs. The PS3 should be more than capable of doing that. An honorable mention goes to Activision for Tony Hawk, and to any other developer/publisher of "extreme" sports games. Props out to Rockstar for getting the music thing right with Grand Theft Auto.
Overall, I don't really see why Sony should make custom soundtracks universal. And I don't see why game companies (other than EA and others mentioned above) should enable it. Games come with their own music for a reason.
Well, the latest firmware was released early Tuesday morning, and no such option was mentioned in the release notes, and I couldn't find it, either. So, assuming the image is legit, either means it's from a game that supports custom soundtracks (meaning the PS3 has support for it already, but games have to utilize it), or it's from a still upcoming firmware release.
Either way, I don't really care that much. Which brings me to my topic for today, custom soundtracks. What is the big deal with custom soundtracks? Is it really that important to be able to listen to your own music?
Almost all games I've played have a wonderful soundtrack. And in most cases, the soundtrack fits the game much more than anything I could possibly come up with. I can't imagine wanting to play anything else when playing the game. I mean, who would want to listen to Fallout Boy or Ozzy Osbourne while wandering the realms of Oblivion, for example? It completely takes you out of the game experience. I don't see any reason to play my own music when the game provides a fitting and sometimes beautiful array of music.
The only games I want my own music in are the Electronic Arts games that have that "EA Trax" stuff. EA Trax, in my opinion, is consistently the worst music in gaming history. They seem to like taking some of the worst music (with a few gems here and there, though rare) and plastering it all over their games. From EA Sports games, to Need For Speed, and others. In these cases, I'm begging for a way to play my own music. Or at least a way to turn that crap off. EA, stop being lazy and make your own music. Or at the very least, sign decent artists. If you can't do that, just let me import my own songs. The PS3 should be more than capable of doing that. An honorable mention goes to Activision for Tony Hawk, and to any other developer/publisher of "extreme" sports games. Props out to Rockstar for getting the music thing right with Grand Theft Auto.
Overall, I don't really see why Sony should make custom soundtracks universal. And I don't see why game companies (other than EA and others mentioned above) should enable it. Games come with their own music for a reason.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Looking Ahead...
I wanted to at least get in one more post before the weekend. Hopefully this will be the last of the "explanation and technicality" posts from me before I start actually, you know, blogging. At least for awhile. In any event, I did want to say one more thing in that regard. You can expect from me about 2-3 posts per week, and all of those during the work week. The weekends is the time I actually play games, spend time with the wife, and generally take care of all the other stuff. So blogging then is out of the question (at least for actual posting, something I want to do would require doing it during the weekend, but more on that at another time).
Sadly, I couldn't really come up with anything too in depth to write today, so I am going to do a "here's the games I am playing and will be writing about also ideas and concepts that I will want to mention" list/explanation. Normally, I would like to write about things in a more editorial manner, with me just free styling my thoughts on things, but there wasn't much I wanted to talk about this week (the Peter Moore leaving Microsoft thing seemed pretty clear to me, and E3 was something of a bore).
Without further ado, here are the games/systems/concepts I am most interested in and you can expect to see me write about:
World of Warcraft- Yes, yes, I know. Pretty much everything has been said and done with this game already, but since I am late to the show on this one (both in playing it and talking about it) I am rushing to catch up. I have a 64 mage in the game and hope to write a long "review-but-not-really-a-review" post for it when I hit the 70 cap, but I am worried that would be too dull, even for me to write. However, I do have what I think could end up being a rather interesting concept for it....
Blue Dragon- As you will quickly discover, I am something of an Xbox fan. It's strange, really. I generally dislike shooters, and the Xbox 360 has way, way too many of them, but I prefer it's more Western flavor as opposed to Nintendo and Sony's console offerings. So, why, then would I be interested in Blue Dragon? Easy, because I am waiting for the Eastern market to win me back over and prove that they can reach a staunch Western fanbase (like the one that owns Xbox's). Though I said I am growing tired of the Eastern market, I still have a fondness for it that is mostly fueled by chuckling at the inane nature of it. That, and my wife loves Kingdom Hearts.
Lost Odyssey- See above. Though I am destined to enjoy this one way more than my wife.
Playstation 3....and why I don't own one- I am sure that, eventually, I will. In the meantime, I imagine that, should people continually read this blog, they'll want to know why someone who has such an affinity for video games doesn't own one. It's one of those short answer/long answer type things, and those always take awhile to explain.
The Wii....and why I don't particularly enjoy it- This one is tricky. See, I own a Wii, managed to find one a week after Christmas (it's kinda a funny story how that happened, and would be included in a post about the Wii), but I rarely, if ever, play the thing. And in fact, it isn't even in my house. My stepdad has it, cause he enjoys it more than me. And it isn't like I hate the thing, not at all.....BUT....well....there are a lot of other things I'd rather do. Hence why this will need to be covered eventually.
Halo 3....and why I couldn't care less- Expect this once the game hits and everyone is trying to make me play it.
Handhelds, handhelds, handhelds- I own two DS's (one for me, one for my wife) and a PSP. And now that these things are really starting to shine with their software, expect me to actually give a damn about handhelds for the first time since the original Gameboy was released. (I could spend all day talking about the various idiosyncrasies of Elite Beat Agents)
Basically, that is the "list" at the moment of various topics you can expect from me. Next week might be a little tough because I am going away for the weekend and won't be home again till Monday evening. So I'll have to play it by ear (perhaps something in the news will spur something, who knows).
In any event, stay tuned as we work out the kinks around here and try to find our rhythm.
Sadly, I couldn't really come up with anything too in depth to write today, so I am going to do a "here's the games I am playing and will be writing about also ideas and concepts that I will want to mention" list/explanation. Normally, I would like to write about things in a more editorial manner, with me just free styling my thoughts on things, but there wasn't much I wanted to talk about this week (the Peter Moore leaving Microsoft thing seemed pretty clear to me, and E3 was something of a bore).
Without further ado, here are the games/systems/concepts I am most interested in and you can expect to see me write about:
World of Warcraft- Yes, yes, I know. Pretty much everything has been said and done with this game already, but since I am late to the show on this one (both in playing it and talking about it) I am rushing to catch up. I have a 64 mage in the game and hope to write a long "review-but-not-really-a-review" post for it when I hit the 70 cap, but I am worried that would be too dull, even for me to write. However, I do have what I think could end up being a rather interesting concept for it....
Blue Dragon- As you will quickly discover, I am something of an Xbox fan. It's strange, really. I generally dislike shooters, and the Xbox 360 has way, way too many of them, but I prefer it's more Western flavor as opposed to Nintendo and Sony's console offerings. So, why, then would I be interested in Blue Dragon? Easy, because I am waiting for the Eastern market to win me back over and prove that they can reach a staunch Western fanbase (like the one that owns Xbox's). Though I said I am growing tired of the Eastern market, I still have a fondness for it that is mostly fueled by chuckling at the inane nature of it. That, and my wife loves Kingdom Hearts.
Lost Odyssey- See above. Though I am destined to enjoy this one way more than my wife.
Playstation 3....and why I don't own one- I am sure that, eventually, I will. In the meantime, I imagine that, should people continually read this blog, they'll want to know why someone who has such an affinity for video games doesn't own one. It's one of those short answer/long answer type things, and those always take awhile to explain.
The Wii....and why I don't particularly enjoy it- This one is tricky. See, I own a Wii, managed to find one a week after Christmas (it's kinda a funny story how that happened, and would be included in a post about the Wii), but I rarely, if ever, play the thing. And in fact, it isn't even in my house. My stepdad has it, cause he enjoys it more than me. And it isn't like I hate the thing, not at all.....BUT....well....there are a lot of other things I'd rather do. Hence why this will need to be covered eventually.
Halo 3....and why I couldn't care less- Expect this once the game hits and everyone is trying to make me play it.
Handhelds, handhelds, handhelds- I own two DS's (one for me, one for my wife) and a PSP. And now that these things are really starting to shine with their software, expect me to actually give a damn about handhelds for the first time since the original Gameboy was released. (I could spend all day talking about the various idiosyncrasies of Elite Beat Agents)
Basically, that is the "list" at the moment of various topics you can expect from me. Next week might be a little tough because I am going away for the weekend and won't be home again till Monday evening. So I'll have to play it by ear (perhaps something in the news will spur something, who knows).
In any event, stay tuned as we work out the kinks around here and try to find our rhythm.
Obscure Gaming Facts
This may be a one-time deal, as I doubt I'd be able to get many "obscure" facts. But, I think I can pull together a few that many people probably do not know.
Fact #1: Some people may know that Halo started as a real-time strategy game. But, they may not know that, after Halo was turned into a third-person shooter, the console version was in development for the Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. In fact, IGN.com has a preview of the PS2 version of Halo.
Fact #2: Nolan Bushnell may be considered, by some, the "Father" of the video game industry. But a man named Ralph Baer created the first home video game prototype. The prototype included a series of simple games controlled by "paddle" controllers (knobs you turn clockwise or counter-clockwise) and switches, and also included the first ever light-gun. He applied for a patent on the technology on January 15th, 1968.
Fact #3: While Baer may have created the home video game system, he didn't create the first computer game. The first known computer game was made in 1951. The computer was named Nimrod, and it was a computer that was dedicated to playing the logic game Nim. As it was before the age of computer monitors, it used a series of small lights to display the current status of the game.
Fact #4: Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris, received very little royalties from his creation until 1996. Due to Russian law in the '80s, the Russian government owned Tetris, and Alexey received no compensation. Even though communism was later abolished in Russia, the ownership laws didn't expire until 1996. At which point, Alexey and a man named Henk Rodgers (who helped secure the home console and handheld rights for Nintendo) started The Tetris Company. This company immediately started securing the rights to Tetris, and it currently owns the rights in several countries. However, they can only enforce ownership of the Tetris name, and not the base concepts of the game. Alexey is currently employed by Microsoft, and has worked on some web-based games for the MSN Games site. One of his more recent creations is Hexic, a game playable via MSN Games, and is pre-loaded on every XBox 360 game console.
Fact #1: Some people may know that Halo started as a real-time strategy game. But, they may not know that, after Halo was turned into a third-person shooter, the console version was in development for the Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. In fact, IGN.com has a preview of the PS2 version of Halo.
Fact #2: Nolan Bushnell may be considered, by some, the "Father" of the video game industry. But a man named Ralph Baer created the first home video game prototype. The prototype included a series of simple games controlled by "paddle" controllers (knobs you turn clockwise or counter-clockwise) and switches, and also included the first ever light-gun. He applied for a patent on the technology on January 15th, 1968.
Fact #3: While Baer may have created the home video game system, he didn't create the first computer game. The first known computer game was made in 1951. The computer was named Nimrod, and it was a computer that was dedicated to playing the logic game Nim. As it was before the age of computer monitors, it used a series of small lights to display the current status of the game.
Fact #4: Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris, received very little royalties from his creation until 1996. Due to Russian law in the '80s, the Russian government owned Tetris, and Alexey received no compensation. Even though communism was later abolished in Russia, the ownership laws didn't expire until 1996. At which point, Alexey and a man named Henk Rodgers (who helped secure the home console and handheld rights for Nintendo) started The Tetris Company. This company immediately started securing the rights to Tetris, and it currently owns the rights in several countries. However, they can only enforce ownership of the Tetris name, and not the base concepts of the game. Alexey is currently employed by Microsoft, and has worked on some web-based games for the MSN Games site. One of his more recent creations is Hexic, a game playable via MSN Games, and is pre-loaded on every XBox 360 game console.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A longer introduction: Why this blog is here
So, now, I felt the need to write a post explaining why this blog exists in the first place.
In some ways, it is a remarkably simple answer: I love video games. In other ways, it's a bit more difficult.
In truth, I am just long winded enough to make talking to me about video games in a messageboard tiresome, because you are expected to talk back in that setting. In the case of a blog, I can write as much as I want without the problem of feeling like I am berating someone (when I am really just exercising my normal long winded nature). That's the theory anyway. It may become a bit of a problem when some of my views about video games come to light.
See, I am not as big on Japanese, or "Eastern", video games as many within the online video game community seem to be. And I have a tough time articulating why that is, I just know that it is. For example, I watched the latest Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer (the one from that show they are calling E3 when it isn't really E3) because some of my friends, and most of the people on the internet,, were telling me it was like "the greatest thing EVAR!".... and not only did I not see that, I couldn't even see why they saw that. I watch things like the fight between Raiden and Vamp in that trailer and think the following:
"OK, so the vampire-like, bi-sexual, Romanian guy who was impaled on a cross as a kid, is apparently immortal, and is conveniently named Vamp, and the bishy dude who now looks like a robot and let his girlfriend (who was actually an AI construct in disguise) constantly harass him about remembering what day it was in the midst of a major terrorist attack are fighting like they are trapped in the Matrix."
Needless to say, I was unimpressed. Nor was I impressed with the earlier part of the trailer that had them explaining that Solid Snake's mission is, apparently, to assassinate Liquid Snake..... when what they really mean is they want him to assassinate Liquid Snake's arm that has taken control of Revolver Ocelot.
(By the way, I tried to explain that last part to my younger brother, who used to play video games religiously and was a fan of the Metal Gear Series. Neither of us could describe that set up with Liquid's arm without laughing out loud on the phone.)
I understand that liking the rather convoluted plots of some of these Eastern games is a matter of taste, and I have no real problem with that, as long as people don't try to make other people believe how great they are. That's just unfair and silly. Sadly, though, this happens a lot among video game fans.
Which is really why I wanted to create my own avenue, as it were, for discussing video games. If I were to post on a messageboard the kind of statements that I posted above, I would instantly be barraged with inane comments about how awesome the trailer really was and stupid I was. However, in this blog, I am free to point out a salient point about those above comments, mainly this:
None of what I just said about Metal Gear Solid 4 has anything to do with actually playing the game.
Clearly, I know enough about the series to discuss relevant plot points in it, as I just did, so I have played the games. And that is the only thing about the Metal Gear games that I enjoy anymore. (For the record, I've not enjoyed their plots since the first Metal Gear Solid game). That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the series anymore or that I won't get a Playstation 3 to play Metal Gear Solid 4. It simply means that it's plot has become incessantly ludicrous from where I am sitting.
I just feel that, in this blog setting, I can write that kind of thing more freely without the chatter that comes with a messageboard, which requires a certain back and forth that takes away from the ability to make a point clear.
And that is why this blog exists.
In some ways, it is a remarkably simple answer: I love video games. In other ways, it's a bit more difficult.
In truth, I am just long winded enough to make talking to me about video games in a messageboard tiresome, because you are expected to talk back in that setting. In the case of a blog, I can write as much as I want without the problem of feeling like I am berating someone (when I am really just exercising my normal long winded nature). That's the theory anyway. It may become a bit of a problem when some of my views about video games come to light.
See, I am not as big on Japanese, or "Eastern", video games as many within the online video game community seem to be. And I have a tough time articulating why that is, I just know that it is. For example, I watched the latest Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer (the one from that show they are calling E3 when it isn't really E3) because some of my friends, and most of the people on the internet,, were telling me it was like "the greatest thing EVAR!".... and not only did I not see that, I couldn't even see why they saw that. I watch things like the fight between Raiden and Vamp in that trailer and think the following:
"OK, so the vampire-like, bi-sexual, Romanian guy who was impaled on a cross as a kid, is apparently immortal, and is conveniently named Vamp, and the bishy dude who now looks like a robot and let his girlfriend (who was actually an AI construct in disguise) constantly harass him about remembering what day it was in the midst of a major terrorist attack are fighting like they are trapped in the Matrix."
Needless to say, I was unimpressed. Nor was I impressed with the earlier part of the trailer that had them explaining that Solid Snake's mission is, apparently, to assassinate Liquid Snake..... when what they really mean is they want him to assassinate Liquid Snake's arm that has taken control of Revolver Ocelot.
(By the way, I tried to explain that last part to my younger brother, who used to play video games religiously and was a fan of the Metal Gear Series. Neither of us could describe that set up with Liquid's arm without laughing out loud on the phone.)
I understand that liking the rather convoluted plots of some of these Eastern games is a matter of taste, and I have no real problem with that, as long as people don't try to make other people believe how great they are. That's just unfair and silly. Sadly, though, this happens a lot among video game fans.
Which is really why I wanted to create my own avenue, as it were, for discussing video games. If I were to post on a messageboard the kind of statements that I posted above, I would instantly be barraged with inane comments about how awesome the trailer really was and stupid I was. However, in this blog, I am free to point out a salient point about those above comments, mainly this:
None of what I just said about Metal Gear Solid 4 has anything to do with actually playing the game.
Clearly, I know enough about the series to discuss relevant plot points in it, as I just did, so I have played the games. And that is the only thing about the Metal Gear games that I enjoy anymore. (For the record, I've not enjoyed their plots since the first Metal Gear Solid game). That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the series anymore or that I won't get a Playstation 3 to play Metal Gear Solid 4. It simply means that it's plot has become incessantly ludicrous from where I am sitting.
I just feel that, in this blog setting, I can write that kind of thing more freely without the chatter that comes with a messageboard, which requires a certain back and forth that takes away from the ability to make a point clear.
And that is why this blog exists.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
July in gaming history
Before I get into this, I wanted to give a brief introduction to this feature. I plan on rounding up significant events in gaming, and posting them each month. I was originally planning on doing it every day, but unfortunately I can't find enough events to do this every day. So, I'm switching to a monthly format. Also, I plan on listing game releases, but I can't list the release of every single game. So I'm trying to keep it to more significant releases.
I hope everyone enjoys this segment.
Now onto the first installment of This Month In Gaming History.
JULY
1st --
1983 – Dragon's Lair is released in the arcades, and becomes the first laser-disc coin-operated arcade game.
3rd --
1999 – Billy Mitchell plays the arcade game Pac-Man approximately six hours on one coin, and plays the “perfect” game. His score at the end was 3,333,360. The score can only be achieved by eating every dot, fruit, and ghost on all 256 levels without dying. After level 256, the level counter causes a glitch that turns half the screen into “gibberish,” and thus makes levels beyond that unplayable.
6th --
1984 – Warner Communications sells the home video game and computer system divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel.
12th --
1990 – Final Fantasy is released on the NES.
15th --
1983 – Nintendo releases the Famicom in Japan. Launch titles include Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye.
1985 – James Vollandt plays the arcade game Joust for over 67 hours (including four 20-minute breaks) on a single coin, setting a world record for any arcade game. His score at the end was 107,216,700 points.
2003 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic released on Xbox.
19th --
1991 – Final Fantasy IV is released on the Super Famicom in Japan. The game would be released in North America later that year as Final Fantasy II.
2001 – Final Fantasy X is released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
PlayStation 2 HDD released in Japan.
20th --
2005 – After the infamous “Hot Coffee” scandal, the ESRB re-rates Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game is given an Adults-Only rating. Game retailers start taking the game off the shelves, and Take-Two announces they will re-release the game later that year, with the content fully removed.
21st --
1982 – Atari signs a deal to make the game, E.T., which is often credited for the downfall of the home video game market in the United States.
29th --
2001 – Pokemon Crystal is released for the Game Boy Color.
31st --
1997 – Sonic Jam, a collection of Sonic The Hedgehog games from the Genesis, is released on the Sega Saturn.
2006 – The Entertainment Software Association announces that E3 will be “downsized” in the years to come.
I hope everyone enjoys this segment.
Now onto the first installment of This Month In Gaming History.
JULY
1st --
1983 – Dragon's Lair is released in the arcades, and becomes the first laser-disc coin-operated arcade game.
3rd --
1999 – Billy Mitchell plays the arcade game Pac-Man approximately six hours on one coin, and plays the “perfect” game. His score at the end was 3,333,360. The score can only be achieved by eating every dot, fruit, and ghost on all 256 levels without dying. After level 256, the level counter causes a glitch that turns half the screen into “gibberish,” and thus makes levels beyond that unplayable.
6th --
1984 – Warner Communications sells the home video game and computer system divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel.
12th --
1990 – Final Fantasy is released on the NES.
15th --
1983 – Nintendo releases the Famicom in Japan. Launch titles include Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye.
1985 – James Vollandt plays the arcade game Joust for over 67 hours (including four 20-minute breaks) on a single coin, setting a world record for any arcade game. His score at the end was 107,216,700 points.
2003 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic released on Xbox.
19th --
1991 – Final Fantasy IV is released on the Super Famicom in Japan. The game would be released in North America later that year as Final Fantasy II.
2001 – Final Fantasy X is released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
PlayStation 2 HDD released in Japan.
20th --
2005 – After the infamous “Hot Coffee” scandal, the ESRB re-rates Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game is given an Adults-Only rating. Game retailers start taking the game off the shelves, and Take-Two announces they will re-release the game later that year, with the content fully removed.
21st --
1982 – Atari signs a deal to make the game, E.T., which is often credited for the downfall of the home video game market in the United States.
29th --
2001 – Pokemon Crystal is released for the Game Boy Color.
31st --
1997 – Sonic Jam, a collection of Sonic The Hedgehog games from the Genesis, is released on the Sega Saturn.
2006 – The Entertainment Software Association announces that E3 will be “downsized” in the years to come.
Another short introduction
Hey all.
Since Alex posted his introduction, I figure I'll post mine.
My name is Brandon Myers, I turn 24 in a little over two weeks, and I'm a longtime gamer. I got an NES when I was five, and I've played several game systems at least once. Including in-store demos of the Atari Jaguar and TurboGrafx 16, system rentals of the CD-I, 32x, and Sega CD, and playing systems that my friends have owned (such as Atari 2600, Sega Saturn, and Sega Dreamcast). I currently own a PS3, Game Cube, XBox, and N64. In the past, I have owned the NES, Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, PS1, PS2, and GBA.
I'm a Star Wars fan. I run Linux as my operating system. I like quite a few gaming genres, including RPG, Action/Adventure, first and third person shooters, and turn-based strategy, among others.
And that's about it. Thanks for reading.
Since Alex posted his introduction, I figure I'll post mine.
My name is Brandon Myers, I turn 24 in a little over two weeks, and I'm a longtime gamer. I got an NES when I was five, and I've played several game systems at least once. Including in-store demos of the Atari Jaguar and TurboGrafx 16, system rentals of the CD-I, 32x, and Sega CD, and playing systems that my friends have owned (such as Atari 2600, Sega Saturn, and Sega Dreamcast). I currently own a PS3, Game Cube, XBox, and N64. In the past, I have owned the NES, Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, PS1, PS2, and GBA.
I'm a Star Wars fan. I run Linux as my operating system. I like quite a few gaming genres, including RPG, Action/Adventure, first and third person shooters, and turn-based strategy, among others.
And that's about it. Thanks for reading.
A Short Introduction: Personal
....And go.
Ok, time to start this blog officially, I suppose. And as someone once said, it is best to start at the beginning. I think that would be with a short summary of myself.
I am 24 years old, male, married, I live in New England, I attend college as well as work full time, and Alex Gore is a pseudonym.
That should answer some of the more basic questions as well as make certain things clear when it comes to how they should pop up in later posts.
Now, as to the purpose of this blog, it is given away in the title. Those reading this with a knowledge of video games will get the reference. It is, of course, a reference the (in)famous quote from the video game Resident Evil. A line of dubious purpose, that was more funny than shocking, dropped into a game that felt like a B-movie in interactive form. That should explain the purpose of this blog to an extent, but I will write more of that later.
Lastly, I haven't really decided when I will be posting, other than I hope to write something at least three times a week, if not more. I intend to keep everything about video games, for the most part, but I am sure I will enviteably stray off topic. It happens.
Ok, time to start this blog officially, I suppose. And as someone once said, it is best to start at the beginning. I think that would be with a short summary of myself.
I am 24 years old, male, married, I live in New England, I attend college as well as work full time, and Alex Gore is a pseudonym.
That should answer some of the more basic questions as well as make certain things clear when it comes to how they should pop up in later posts.
Now, as to the purpose of this blog, it is given away in the title. Those reading this with a knowledge of video games will get the reference. It is, of course, a reference the (in)famous quote from the video game Resident Evil. A line of dubious purpose, that was more funny than shocking, dropped into a game that felt like a B-movie in interactive form. That should explain the purpose of this blog to an extent, but I will write more of that later.
Lastly, I haven't really decided when I will be posting, other than I hope to write something at least three times a week, if not more. I intend to keep everything about video games, for the most part, but I am sure I will enviteably stray off topic. It happens.
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