For once I'm not going to rant and rave about stupid children, stupid people, stupid people's stupid children, or anything else that may get my blood pressure going. No, today is starting off to be a good day. Over the last few days, I've checked out new 360 games...one of the perks of being a game store employee. That way I can find out what is going to be worth my hard earned money, and I can better sell the product. (I'll move to other systems soon enough, but for now, all the titles I want and can't afford are on the 360.) I must say that I've been completely in awe of the power of Next-Gen.
But let me pause for a moment and remind everyone that I'm not a rich man...I haven't always had 200+ games in my collection...in fact, in a previous blog I mentioned that I had to sacrifice a large number of games so I could be a good father and provide for my child. That said, it shouldn't be much of a surprise to those who didn't know me a few months ago that I've only recently joined the next-gen family. I was a child of the Atari generation who moved up to a Commodore 64/128 when the rest of the world was moving up to the NES. In fact, I've always been about 2 or 3 years behind on the latest systems. I didn't get a GameCube until 2003...right before Wind Waker hit the shelves. I got my first PS2 in the Spring of 2006, I never had an Xbox, and I just got my 360 about 3 or 4 months ago. I've kept up with the handhelds a lot better than consoles lately. So, this is probably why I am in complete awe of some of the games I've tried recently. So, history lesson out of the way, here's what's got my attention lately...
Bioshock - HOLY ****! What else can you say? I turned this on and could not believe how beautiful this game is! The opening scene with the main character making his way through the water and fireywreckage...WOW! My girlfriend was watching as I went into the first corridor and remarked at how real everything looked. This is by far the best looking game I have EVER seen.
Silent Hill Origins - I don't really need to say much about this one since I wrote a full review for it. I love this game. It needs to be recognized as handheld game of the year. Hands down, this is the best PSP game I have played...and having a library that once contained 80+ titles, I think I know a little somethingabout PSP games.
Legend Of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass - I'm currently hooked on this one...I've finished Silent Hill Origins, so I'm working on this now and I'm quite impressed. The only thing I have to complain about is the control set-up. I have learned how to handle the stylus-only control scheme, but I would have liked it more if they had made it so I could use the directional pad. Some places the control is perfect, some places the control decides to be overly or underly sensitive. Otherwise, I'm happy with my purchase. (I'll do a completereview when I've completed the game.)
Contra 4 and Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles- Oh yeah! Classic side-scrolling action is back! This is the kind of gaming I grew up with so I can't help but to love them. And not to mention that Metal Slug 7 is coming to the DS next year...BOOYAH!
And last but certainly not least...Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - When I recently sold off a large portion of my collection, I included my GameCube copies of Lego Star Wars 1 & 2. I haven't replaced these yet, but the plan is to get the 360 version. I did get the DS version and so far I'm having a lot of fun. I just wish that the graphics could have been a little better. Legos are supposed to be square (or round, depending) and shiny plastic...not fuzzy. It's not that the graphics are bad by any means...I just wish they would have made them a bit sharper. I do also appreciate the attempt to add the cut-scenes into the game, but let's take a look at other games by comparison...these kind of cut-scenes could be done on the GBA. Luminous Arc has a beautiful opening in full motion video. Couldn't the original console videos be compressed and added to the game? Otherwise, I like this one as well.
Moving on to another topic...
I was having a brief conversation with my GameSpot buddy LexLas today, and I wished him a happy turkey day. This reminded me of an old tradition Comedy Central used to have of playing 40 hours of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those of you unfamiliar with this show, take a second to jump over to Wikipedia and look it up. Here, I'll even provide you with a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MST3K
It wasn't until I read the Wikipedia article that I realized that the show was canceled some 8 years ago. (This is what happens when you don't watch television for 10+ years.) But wouldn't it be great to have a Turkey-day marathon once again? I would love to see the old MST3K episodes...especially such great episodes as Manos: Hands Of Fate and Mitchell. Ah well, we can only hope. Which reminds me...did anyone else watch Mad Movies With the LA Connection back in the 80's? That was a great pre-cursor to MST3K. Too bad there's not much information on it online. ANyways, I'm starting to ramble...maybe the old man needs a nap. Until next time...
Cheers!