Ok, the name Redstar isnt even available, I should have checked on that earlier. So I will be making sure to track everyone on my new account that I am currently tracking on this one.

This account will be deleted over the next few days.

I have actually decided to ask people what they think I should change my name to, but I want it to be something I can of myself and the only other lame name I can think of that I even remotely like is Redstar.

So, tell me what name you like better:

Redstar

Skull-Fire

I am keeping track of how many people vote for which name and will be changing within the week, maybe tomorrow :P Thought I might as well do this while I am still at a low level, with a small amount of reviews etc.

Thanks.

From now on I will be using this account.

I was unhappy with Skull_Fire and although Skull-Fire is pretty much the same, it just has a certain... thing to it that I like. I am also aware that Skull Fire, no matter how you type it is not a very imaginative user name, but I have always sucked hardcore when it comes to thinking up names. I will be checking this account over the next couple of days, but after a week at the most, it will be deleted. If I have been tracking you on this account, I will continue to do so on my new account.

I will also be copying some of the blog posts here and posting them into my new blog. I have already done this with 'Gamer vs Time' but I did make a few changes, nothing major though, just changed the wording a bit and took out Legend of Dragoon because when I bought it off ebay I assumed it was in PAL format, seeing as though the buying was also in Australia, but it was infact in NTSC, making it completely useless to me. If anyone knows how to make it into a ROM on my computer, that would be great, I would really appreciate you leting me know how to do that.

Anyway, hopefully I will see you all over at Skull-Fire.

*waves*

It took me a long time but I have finally decided on exactly which games I am most looking forward to playing. All of the following games have not yet been released in Australia, as far as I know only Persona 3 has been released elsewhere.

10 Resident Evil 5

I was never much of a fan of the Resident Evil series until I played 4 and it was awesome! Sure the feel of intelligent enemies faded away after about half way though the game, mostly because you stoped being outside with laders windows they could use. But it was still awesome.

09 Lost: Via Domus

Great show, hopfully great game. It sounds like an absolute blast. I also love mysteries so that helps. But being able to actually explore the island yourself, solve some mysteries, interact and befriend the other castaways, or even make them dislike you, is just pure awesome!

08 God of War 3

Love the first 2 games, even if they were a little short, although the second did improve a decent amount. The PS3 will hopefully provide a much longer play time. The end of GoW 2 set up the third installment very nicely indeed. Cant wait. Unfourtunately I couldnt find an actual pic of the game, this one is from Chains of Olympus (notice the lack of white 'skin'.

07 Guitar Hero IV

I just cant get enough of these games, I dont own any of them at the moment, but I plan to soon. Awesome series! Hours of entertainment.

06 The Agency

A spy MMO that allows you to create your own secret organization, cool and unique sounding missions and options, all playing out in real time. Go up in rank and learn new skills. Actually having your own secret base and being able to hang there and talk to people is really cool, then work together to kill other people :P

05 Metal Gear Online

I love the Metal Gear franchise, but bringing it online could be disatrous, on the other hand it could be one of the best decisions of all time. But Im not letting my hopes get up too high.

04 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

I just love the Megami Tensei series, no RPG fan should go without these games in their collection. The Press Turn system is awesome and makes battles twice as fun. With a large amount of playtime (I heard over 60 hours), New Game + and loads of extra stuff to do, I wont be able to resist this game even if I wanted to.

03 Prototype

Eating people, assuming their identity and memories, turning your arms into blades to slice your enemies open, leaping from vehicle to building, picking up cars and tanks, or taking one for a spin yourself. Fighting against a secret army force and mutants. All in an open world environment, like GTA. God I love this game already! This explanation does not do the game any justice, check it out yourself, seriously.

02 Grand Theft Auto IV

Great series, but I am glad its finally getting a change, I got bored with Vice City Stories and I dont think I could handle another one like it. Still, the drastic changes might not suit my every need, but I think they should suffice.

01 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

What can I say? Im in love. Although Snake Eater was a diappointment with an almost complete lack of twists or even enjoyable plot (although the gameplay was still excellent, of course), I remain confident that Guns of the Patriots will be just as awesome - if not better - than Sons of Liberty, especially since its back on the original time line again with a lot of returning characters. Also, there appears to be choices you can make, as in which group of soldiers you want to help out to get returned help from them.

Other games I'm looking forward to (listed as I think of them):

Mercinaries 2: World in Flames - The idea behind this series is great, but the original was very disappointing, but still incredibly fun. Loads of potential, especially for the current generation.

Possession - Taking command of hundreds of zombies? Hell yeah!

Darksiders: Wrath of War - The opportunity to play as one of the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse? Just try to stop me. Plus, with a mix of Zelda and God of War like gameplay, Darksiders is set up to be one hell of a ride!

Dragonball Z: Burst Limit - DBZ rules. Fact.

Dark Sector - Sounds like a great sci-fi third person shooter!

Final Fantasy XIII - Its Final Fantasy, what more can I say?

Brutal Legend - Jack Black. 'Nuff said.

Alive - Survival, but without the horror. Sounds be a bit like lost.

Rise of the Argonauts - Loosely based on Greek mythological hero, Jason of Iolcus, you travel to 15 different islands in your ship that you can customize, hold trophies of achievments and get people to join you such as blacksmiths etc. Kind of like Suikoden, sounds pretty cool.

Ghostbusters - Ghost Hunter (PS2, similar - in a way - to Ghostbusters) was fun, so this should be too, espeically since most of the original cast is back to do voice overs (Sigourney Weaver wont be returning) and Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis are writing the script and story, I see no reason why it should be a let down.

Cipher Complex - Fast and stealthy. A great sounding new breed for an already great genre.

Infamous - Supposedly a nonlienear, open environment with ideas from Batman Begins and Heroes, but from what I have heard, although it sounds good, it have a feeling it will be one of those 'had potential' games.

Borderlands - An FPS-RPG-Racing game with over half a million weapons in what seems to be an open world enironment that suports single and co-operative play seamlessly. hell. Yeah.

Turok - The new version of the Turok series sounds interesting.

Tom Clancy's Endwar - Interesting sounding console RTS.

God of War: Chains of Olympus - Pretty much the same as what was said for GoW 3, but I dont have a PSP at the moment, so thats why its down here.

The Wall - Join 1 of 3 sects in a post apocalyptic world, as a genetically altered human. Cool.

I have just passed the half way point of Digital Devil Saga, I have decided not to sleep in an attempt to either finish it off today (especially after a very dull and annoying 3 hour distraction...), although the main reason for this is because it is Winter-Een-Mas, the gaming holiday of DOOM!! Unfourtunately, I seem to be developing one of those headaches you get only when you have stayed awake too long. But I can fight it, no one has been able to beat me when it comes to staying awake! :D

The most time consuming game is going to be Tales of Symphonia, I just checked the back cover and it says it has over 80 hours of gamplay. I wil be starting it from the very beginning, mostly because I wont have a clue as to what I was doing, plus thats exactly what happened last time I picked the game up again.

Wow, 2008 is really off to a good start. Well, not immediately, but there are great games on the way.

As everyone no doubt knows GTA IV will be released on April 29th, MGS 4 should be out in April also. But before then Persona 3 will finally be making its way to the Australian shores in March, a game I have been eagerly awaiting for since I first heard about it. Then of course we have the 2 Final Fantasy XIII's.

To make matters worse here's a list of games I am hoping to finish before April:

Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2
Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 & 3
The Legend of Dragoon
Tales of Symphonia

With all those new titles coming up how am I supposed to have time for the oldies? I dont like being left behind but thats whats happened so I'm trying to make up for it now. So I am absolutely determined to complete every one of these games. by the end of April. Heres a glimpse of the road ahead:

If I want to unlock everything the DDS games have to offer (and I do), I must play through each of them twice and import clear data from DDS 1 to 2. That way I get new items, skills and secret bosses. I may stop playing at one play through each however, if the deadline is drawing near. I wont have comleted them 100% but at least I will have beaten the story, I can always aim for 100% completion later.

I have already beaten the first 3 MGS games several times, apart from the ones on PSP. But I would like to play through the entire story from start to finish just one more time before Guns of the Patriots comes out

I dont really need to play The Legend of Dragoon just yet, but it would seem like a bit of a waste not to seeing as though I just ordered it off ebay.

I never did end up beating ToS, I got a bit sick of it about half way through. But it truly is a great game and I would really like to finally finish it.

So there you have it, 7 games to play and conquer by April. Not going to be easy.

The gloves are off! Its the Gamer vs Time.

Think I can handle it? Or do you think it's Game Over for me?

Accepting all bets now!

I hate graphics, I really do. I hate them because now days thats all anyone seems to really care about. But back when it was Nintendo vs Sega, no one cared about how good a game looked. Emphasis was solely on gameplay. I could play marble madness for hours, a game which took probably 15 minutes to beat. But that didnt matter because it was so fun. But now a game that lasts 5 hours is considered too short, even by me. But that is because over the years I have begun to expect longer games, so when I find a shorter game I can't help but compare it to another longer game of the same genre, I guess thats just another fault of being human, we always compare things too much, but I'll rant about that another time, so as I was saying... I am happy to say that I dont give a **** what the graphics are like, all I really care about is being entertained. If I wanted to sit there for hours just ogling something on my TV screen, I'd watch porn.
Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate a good looking game, but I really only see it as a bonus, not a must.


Game journos are recieving less and less respect from me these days. First of all we have the famous gamespot issue. Basically a now ex-employee was doing his job exactly as he should, but the developer's behind the game he reviewed, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men didn't like this one person's opinion of the game and since they had adds for it plasted all over the website they got unrightfully pissed off. Gamespot then proceeded to fire said employee. So apparently you can get fired for doing exactly what you are supposed to do.

Crysis was marked down because the reviewer didn't have a good enough machine to play on. That has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the game. I cannot remember what site this was on, I dont think it was here though.

A review is meant to be someones honest opinion about a particular product, but now people are giving games bad reviews for crappy reasons, getting angry responses from the readers for good reviews and getting fired for a review that the developers don't like.

In an Australian gaming magazine called Hyper, a man named Maurice Branscombe felt a need to point out over 2 whole paragraphs that Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is 'never, under any circumstances, to be played by youngers. Ever.' He goes on to say 'If you're over the age it says you have to be on the game's box, and have a solid grasp of the differences between fantasy and reality, however, then Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a violent, sylish and action-packed gaming experience.'
The fact he felt the need to say that and not let the rest of the review and the games clearly displayed rating in the magazine and the games cover speak for itself, says to me that people are getting more worried about what the publics reaction will be if this game gets in the hands of some nutter who just happens to be devising a plan to blow up his local High School. But I can understand why. Both the media and regular public is angry and merciless. They don't care how much effort you put into something that you love, whether its a simple review stating your honest opinion that an adult themed game kicks ass, or developing a game for the enjoyment of others. All they care about is launching an attack on the easiest person and often using people who are either already troubled in some way or children to do it. Conveniently forgetting of course that a lot of games are created for adults, it isnt the developers fault, or the reviewers, if a child gets hold of something he or she is too young to play. This is also aimed at people who may attack the reviewer for recomending a game that 'influences' violence. Obviously if a game has a 15+ rating the parent should strongly consider if this is the right thing for a 10 year old, for example. Chances are it isn't, but then again you see disturbing and violent behavior every day on TV.
I have been playing video games since I was 3 years old and the most violent game I ever play was Super Mario Bros. No influence.
I got my Nintendo 64 for Christmas, I was around 12 at the time, the first 2 games I had were Cruisin' USA and Goldeneye 007, I also bought other violent games such as Turok 2. No influence.
Today I play games such as Grand Theft Auto. Again, no influence.
So I guess I am adressing 2 issues here, violence in video games and the 'affect' on the players and the fact journalists are now becoming scared when they shouldn't be.

I would love to start up my own gaming website someday. If I do I will be absolutely sure that every staff member is honest and doesnt give a **** what people think, as long as its not in a rude way.

Back to gamespot for a moment, CNET, gamespot's parent company released the following information "Stephen Colvin, former President and CEO of Dennis Publishing, the publisher of Maxim, Blender, Stuff, and The Week magazines, is joining the company as executive vice president. Colvin will be dedicated to overseeing the company's entertainment and lifestyl3 brands" (sorry about the 3 usage but gamespot censor that word.. >.>)
So now, instead of having a dedicated gamer to oversee a gaming website we have an expert in lifestyl3. Sure one could say gaming is a lifestyl3 but you would have to agree that it is an entirely different lifestyl3 to those Colvin had previously been working with. I would much rather an actual gamer to be in that position, just like I would rather an actual doctor treat me than a vet, just because they are good at treating sick dogs, does not mean they should be treating sick humans, even with a similar illness.


Now for hype. Some people considered Assassin's Creed to be 'Game of the Year' worthy, while others such as 1up thought was one of the years 'top ten turkeys'. Either way, it had a huge build up of hype. Personally, I was disappointed, I expected it to be a lot more freeroaming, Oblivion styl3. I was expecting to be able to break into peoples houses, talk to people out in the street, buy weapons and armour, I also thought there would be a lot of side quests. But that was really based on my own opinions on what the game could/should have been.

It specifically says on the back 'Plan your attacks, strike without mercy, and fight your way to escape.' What planning? All you do is get close to your target, watch a cutscene, walk up to or run after your target and kill him. There is no planning of any kind.
I would have thought the assassinations could be done how you wanted, for example; you charge in fighting your way through the guards until you find your target and then have a tough sword battle, or sneak into the building they are in and throw knives for a quick and stealthy kill before escaping unnoticed into the night... or jump down from above and land on top or behind them to slit their throat and so on... but no, pretty much the only thing the game allows is for you to blend in with the crowd, watch a cut scene then kill him >.>
Although there are a few different assassinations such as hoping across boats to get to the one with your target on it.
But they could have easily done so much more with this game.


Well, thats my 4:30am wednesday morning rant. Hope you enjoyed it!

On Thursday I rented one of my all time favorite games, Wizardry: Tale of The Forsaken Land, only to discover some other dick had scratched it to the point that it was unplayable, so I took it back to Blockbuster the next day and they put it in the machine that 'cleans' scratches. Tried to play it again, it was a little better but still froze. So I took it back again and they said there was nothing more they could do and they did not have another copy.

So the bottom line is that thanks to some **** face who cant take care of other peoples property (and is probably a spoiled little brat and gets away with this sort of thing all the time), no one can enjoy the game anymore. Remember, that includes you. So if you want to be able to rent it out again, you had better take care of it for yourself at least. The parents must be so proud. Oh and I also took another game back today as well for the same reason, haven't tried it yet though.

It just really pisses me off when some little **** goes and ruins it for everyone, if I went over to their house and ****ed up all their games I bet they wouldn't like that. Remember, if you want to be able to rent it out again, you had better take care of it for yourself at least.
Seriously, it isn't hard to take care of a disc. I don't care if you are still used to cartridges and used to being able to leave them laying around anywhere without any real harm coming to them, just about every gaming system uses discs now.

If you can't look after something that doesn't belong to you, don't use it!

I seem to have forgotten all about joining this site and keeping my blog up to date. Well anyway, I started a new blog at blogger.com and posted my first entry last night, you can fight that here. I copied the below from blogger.com. Just minutes ago I was in a fight to the death against the King of the Gods, Zeus. After giving him a royal butt-kicking I sat back and enjoyed one the best endings to a video game I have seen in a long time. It paves the way for one kick ass sequel.
I also get to enjoy the benefits of my victory, such as the Challenge of the Titans and Bonus Play, giving me new armour, the Blade of Olympus to use throughout the whole game and magic urns to find.
Seriously, this game is so much fun, way better than the original and I loved the original! Although it was far too short.

Im so excited about the sequel, I cant wait! I might even buy a PSP so I can get GoW Chains of Olympus. For those that may not know, it takes place between the first and second games.

You can watch the trailer here.

I dont see the point in SquareEnix release Final Fantasy IV on DS. If people havent already bought or downloaded one of 3 versions of it by now, they arent going to. Apart from a few insanely hardcore fans of the series, RPG collectors and DS Game collectors, but most people arent going to care. They probably have some new cool feature in it this time but really, its exactly the same game... again. Releasing it a second time was just so that the numbers would be inline with that of Japans. Releasing the real Final Fantasy 3 was a great, if far beyond overdue, idea. I just dont see the ponit in releasing a game that has come out 3 times before. It was only a few years ago it was on the GBA. I understood that aswel, I didnt have a doubt it would sell, it's a great game. But like I said, it has only been a few years since the GBA remake, why would they want to waste their time and money on a game people arent gonig to be overly interested in, again, the insane fans will be, nothing wrong with that I get it. But most people arent gonig to shell out anything for a game we already have at least one copy of.

Wow, I could have said that all a lot shorter Im sure. Just wanting to make sure my point got acrossed and Im really, really tired.