There was a time (circa 2003/2004), when the PS2 fans (affectionately known as cows on System Wars) dominated GameSpot. Every single post would slam down the Lemmings (Xboxers), even if the statement made no sense whatsoever. Also, all those "The Hidden Power of the PS2!" threads, which every cow would applaud at. We all know how that turned out :lol:

It got dirty during 2004. Hermits joined the league as Half Life 2 was finally going to make its debut. Cows had Killzone hyped as the Halo killer and the end of the Xbox. And, of course, Lemmings had Halo 2, the most anticipated game in the history of video games.

And it finally came. Cows took a blow to the head when Killzone got 6.9 at GS. Half Life 2 had lived up to its hype somewhat (it blew Halo's campaign away), and everyone should have expected Halo 2 to come short of the hype, which was a perfect 10.

After that, things took a slight turn. Cows started dissapearing left and right, and Lemmings started spawning on GS like the world was going to end.

However, once the 360 was about to launch, the Cows came back in numbers, anticipating flops from the 360 launch titles. They succeeded somewhat (save Perfect Dark Zero), but that didn't deter the lemmings. Once again, the Cows went into recluse.

And quite recently, the PS3 and Wii had launched. Pre-launch, the Cows once again banded together. Countless lists of launch titles and 2007 games were posted, and it seemed the launch would be a success. Then a series of events lead up to the inevitable downfall: PS3s were limited in stock, the games were flopping left and right, and many games journalists did a PS3/360 graphical comparison, the the 360's favour. It was highly likely then, that the Cows would give up on these forums.

Things have been going exceptionally well for Lemmings though. They have been flooded with good games such as Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Lost Planet. And 2007 is arguably their biggest yet: Blue Dragon, Lost Oddyssey, Mass Effect, and Halo 3. The number of Lemmings have reflected this, and they basically constitute 50% or more of the System Wars forumites.
May I also say, it is a pain. Maybe I like being in the minority, but it's really sad to see pathetic arguments made when valid points are brought up for the PS3 and/or Wii.

I hope next year everything balances out. Cows have MGS 4 to humble the fanboys, along with other great franchises that they envy. Nintendo's fans have the Mario and Metroid Prime franchises to silence their loud mouths.

Let 2007 roll on.

So I was cruising through some reader reviews on some of the games featured on this site. Some of them are very credible. Others, not so credible. Some guys are just idiots. I think it all stems down to the 'fanboyism' of some. Haters will rate flagship titles of other games 1.0, the defenders giving it 10. It's utterly stupid.

I'll start with the most obvious one (and because I know it the most): Halo 2. This is a good example: The most hyped game in history, falling a little short of the hype. So the cows come home:

""Boring"
Not a good sequel same old type of weponary you would get in a real time shooter - 6.8"

Maybe he was just telling the honest truth, you say. Well, I have some other proof too:

His Gears of War review:
""Total letdown"
yuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyuckyyucky come and agree with my review - 1.0 "

It can't be that bad

Oh wait, he does give some positive reviews.

""Amazing"
i love it! read this review something amazing happend- 9.1"

The game? America's Army: Rise of a Soldier on the PS2

Not to mention his many other PS2 titles scored very high.

Now, only a minority do it, but it is significant enough to cause misinformation of certain games, especially when defenders give every damn flagship title a perfect 10. We'll never weed out these people, but people need to be aware of them.

Okay, so after all these multi-pics, all I can say is this: It looks like Halo 2 with sweeter graphics. The maps looked great, the animations I predict will look good. But that's it. Hardly any gameplay tweaks. Sure, a few new guns tossed in here and there. Nothing significant. "We didn't need to activate our X buttons" - bloody hell if there's nothing else significant to show Bungie, show the X button now!

Now even though the graphics were nice, they weren't eye-popping. Sure, it's "pre alpha" yadda yadda yadda, so why did you release them now Bungie? Why'd you have to give into our whining and moaning?

Then I saw that picture. With a Warthog flipped over to his side,  a shotgun in the foreground, and Master Chief crouching in the middle, I thought this would humble the sceptics. Then Bungie comes in, and deflates my bubble of hope: It's from the CG trailer. What. The. Fudge. Dude's, it's only marginally better looking than Gears is, and now you come and tell us that it's pre rendered CG? Bungie, you know you have millions of fans, but don't make us look like suckers, seriously. It's just not fair. I bought and HDTV, and I want to use it to it's fullest. I was expecting that that would be Halo 3. Now I'm not so sure. I do hope 1up is right in saying that Halo 3 will make us go "Gears of Huh?", because I need some reassuring right now.

Not to mention an engaging campaign. That would have to be a mix of story (I believe they have it in the bag), and gameplay. Gameplay, Bungie. As GameSpot's Greg Kasavin has said, make calculated risks, like Halo, and it will pay off. Don't play it too safe.

Bungie, you guys have crazy ideas. Implement them.

I've always realised this. Ever since I actually knew who Michael Jackson was, I knew that his reputation was hurt badly. A day or so ago I read something, and it was then I knew I had to let it out.

It started when I got the monthly mag "Skywatch" (NZ's Pay TV) and it stated that NZ's own MTV channel will air in August. There was a two spread article, on the beginnings of MTV to today's impact on New Zealand music (which they harped on about). What angered me is that there was mention of Michael Jackson. Seriously, come on. WTF. Seriously! MTV rode on Michael Jackson's success to earn that "1.8 billion audience", and vice versa. Both of them wouldn't be as popular as they are today if it weren't for each other. But noooo, MTV think they can get by without mentioning possibly their most successful video performer. Which brings me to the next point. Madonna.

She was stated to be "the most successful video performer in history". Um.... yeah. What is it, two banned videos and a few more controversial ones equals success? Listen guys, I can ask any of you, any of you, what your favourite MJ video is, and after a few tired jokes of him, you would admit you like one of his videos, possibly "Beat It". Now, if I were to ask the same number of you what's your favourite Madonna video, more people would be "Errrr....um.... Can't remember". Michael pretty much dominated MTV with all his music videos, from the humble beginnings of Billie Jean, all the way to 1995 with Scream and Earth Song, the latter being one of the most requested music videos of all time. Material Girl, what do you say to that?*

I also remember hearing about the MTV special of the "100 videos that broke all the rules" or something. Now, I understand it is not a countdown to the best videos of all time, but as the title suggests, it would have broken new ground. As most of you know, Michael Jackson came third with Thriller, Madonna came second, and Britney Spears came first with "Hit me Baby One more Time". I understand if Madonna came in front of MJ, but what the hell was Britney doing at the top of the list? She's basically an offspring of Madonna, and isn't even better than her anyway! Not to mention the Material Girl has much better videos than Britney Spears. Why didn't Thriller come in front of Spears' song? It broke all the rules in the book: There was a real beginning, middle and end, it was 16 minutes long, the song was seamlessly integrated into a short film, the song was also twisted to fit the short film (without changing the lyrics), and it has one of the most intriguing endings to a music video of all time. But then again, you can't blame MTV viewers. Most of them are young males who get their thrills for seeing Britney Spears in an "innocent" school girl outfit. Go figure.

Overall, it appears that Michael has been left out of all those magazine mentionings of legendary artists or musicians that changed music forever. Why? Because he allegedly touched little boys. So did he music change, anyone? No. It's still there, it's still damn good, and it will never change.

Michael's bringing out an album next year. Mark my words, he will show everyone, once again, why we call him the King of Pop.

*I don't have anything against Madonna. It's just the people who give her all the credit for the 80's and music videos.

Well, it's a new year, and a brand new start for all game console companies. This is the year where Microsoft finally gets to test its console against the other game giants: The Big N and Sony. I've seen what they've had to offer, and this is my view on all of them.

The most impressive overall, in my opinion, was the Wii. Nintendo redeemed themselves with their Wii, despite caling it a Wii. It should be a Nintendo's revolution! But no, it's just their Wii. Anyway, mocks aside, this console showed all the skeptics how it's going to change gaming forever. Never has Mario looked so interesting since his N64 days. Super Smash Brothers Brawl looks great, and OMG it's Snake!!!!! Overall, a fantastic presentation.

Yet Microsoft's console stole some of the Wii's limelight in my opinion. I was amazed with what Bioshock has to offer, and Mass Effect looks absolutely dazzling. Microsoft also wanted a showing of their big IPs to be on the safe side, so Halo 3, Forza 2 and Fable 2 took up the rear. Although not much gameplay was shown, you know it sent a shiver up Sony's spine.

Which brings me to Sony. Seriously Sony, W T F???!!! No one in their right minds would say the conference was a success. It flopped. The only saving grace was Metal Gear Solid 4, which was just awesome, by the way.  But don't worry, cows, you still get a major leap in next gen gaming. How about real time weapon switching and giant crabs? It's all authentic Japanese history, so it's got to be good ;).

There you have it. My two cents. I hope all the gaming giants will be able to move on to the future with bright ideas and more immersive IPs.

What's with Hollywood and game to movie adaptions? Are they trying to milk out another medium and plonk it in cinemas just to get some dough?

First, it was the comic to film adaptions. It's still going. Superman, then Batman, X-men and now the ever popular Spiderman, along with luke warm Fantastic Four, Punisher, the list goes on.

Now, even when the comic-film era is still going, they think we need game to movie adaptions. Is Hollywood scared the gaming medium will take them over?

Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter were one of the first ever, along with Super Mario Bros, but they were few and far between. No, I'm talking about the time Hollywood actually noticed that there was a thing called games and started getting their grubby hands and destroying franchises we all know and love.

First, we get Tomb Raider. It was oh so good just to stare at Ms. Jolie's figure. Crap story, crap series which sizzled and died after the second feature film.

Resident Evil. Okay first film, but overdone, overstylized, overstupid sequel. And it's doing the trilogy thing movies seem to love.

Then Uwe Boll, some foreigner with no talent whatsoever, decides to get every game franchise and turn them into home made quality, "OMG WTF HAS HE DONE TO MY FAVORITE GAME!!!" films. May the House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark and Bloodrayne fans rest in piece. Dungeon Siege fans, you should apply for your Last Rites now.

Then Doom came out. Now, it's a funny thing Doom. It's the best game to film adaption, but thats not saying much. AT ALL. Compared to Mr. Anderson's and Mr. Boll's work, a genius. Compared to other films, mediocre work at best.

Now some of the greatest games ever are going under Hollywood's makeover (teh irony!). First of, the beloved Halo series is going Hollywood. Lucky its in the hands of WETA and Peter Jackson's team, but still, it's too early. And even more treasured games are going under the hood. Zelda, Metroid, Tekken the list goes on!

Now Hollywood, STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP RUINING OUR FRANCHISES! Go grab the Wachowski bro's and pay them kajillions to think of a new franchise, because we don't want some random Joe directing our favorite games.

I'm just so frustrated at them! How could they do it to us? Maybe it's just because I want to direct the Halo series, but whatever.