It's been few days now since Socom: Confrontation beta landed on my Hard-Drive through Qore.

For starters, aside from PSP Socom: U.S. Navy Seals Tactical Strike, this is the second Socom game I played. In about 15-20 minutes I finally got comfortable to controls and I have to admit they are nicely placed and convenient.

One map: Crossroads, offered in different sizes and in different playing modes - from Escorting and deploying the bomb objective to Team Deathmatches.

I heard that Crossroads was one of the most popular maps in previous Socom's and I can see why. It's a very interesting map with many points of entry and offers a good balance for both ground combat and rooftops sniping action.

I also enjoyed that environment is reacting to the player nicely. Nothing beats planting a claymore next to the vehicle and wait until someone is next to it to blow it up. Grenade lunch-er is also excellent way to make some noise.

The realism that Socom is known for is definitely here, from weapons to gear load and of course combat efficiency itself. Going prone in single round tap will give you very good accuracy, while trying to run and gun will get you killed before you can scream "cookie!".

I also like how the game is rewarding if you play as a team. I have yet to encounter an opponents who would win vs two teamates that cover each other backs and are also backed up by excellent use of Mic.

80% of Beta players including myself used the MIC to help each other and by the time I heard: "Enemy, tower", I knew exactly where to look without hesitation.

So, the actual beta has its problems. On my first day of download I experienced very, very long loading times to get into a match- up to 15+ minutes. Today however, my average time of wait is about 2-4 minutes on the server close to my city.

Once you're in the game, there is a occasional split-second lag but it doesn't really influence the gameplay.

The graphics are pleasant. I was impressed mostly by excellent textures, map details and lighting. You can rest assured, the game looks great. At least to my eyes it does and this is coming from a guy who doesn't really pay big attention to it, but definitely appreciate. :)

Of course, this is my point of view.

Slant Six has their menu agreement in the words that they are aware of long loading times problems and occasional lag and are working to fix it. I'm hopping so since the game is definitely going to be great for any Tactical Shooter once it's released.

I can honestly say that the BETA, even with its problems had definitely impressed me. Teamwork and game realism eliminate run and gun mechanics I hate to much. If you use your brain, you can always land a kill and feel great about it.

We'll see how the actual game will turn out, for now I'll continue to play the beta until it ends and will give my final thoughts.

If you're playing Socom BETA, share your love or hate for that matter.

It's been some time since my last blog however I did found some time to enjoy some games away from work hours.

Where to start, Quest for Booty an 15$ well spent money even though I was left with feeling of wanting more. I finished it twice over the weekend and it took me average of four hours on first play with medium settings.

Money vs profit taken into account I have to agree it was a good purchase, though if you had a chance to experience Tools of Destruction it falls short in many aspects.

Still, I had great time and it was a good adventure that will definitely continue in fall 2009. I truly hope that adventure will be a full fledged game. ^_^

Now, last evening PSN update finally allowed me to grab Motorstorm 2 Demo which I anticipated for some time. I wasn't disappointed, it was a great demo albeit always wanting more. I'm not sure if it's true that the current demo was 80% complete as some Internet parties stated, but the visuals were great regardless. I did liked Monster Truck but I though the sensitivity of turns were a little to light for such a heavy vehicle. Then again, I don't know how actual trucks handle, so I can't really complain. Once you get use to it, it's as fun as any Motorstorm vehicle especially when you crush that puny bike under your tires. :)

Split Screen was was also fun, both me and my friend had good time and I have to comment on excellent polished demo. There hasn't been one ounce of frame drops neither in single player nor spit-screen action.

Now I really want the whole game even more.

What else kept me occupied.. Ah yes, I'm still enjoying Persona 3 FES and I don't think I'll finish it before Persona 4 is out in near future but that's not a problem, it's a great JRPG that has already taken 42 hours from me. Unfortunately I rarely find 2-3+ hours to just sit and level my characters by re-visiting floors of Tartatus as much as I'd like.

I also enjoyed Disgaea 3 as much as I could but there is no way to finish that game in any near future in my case. So much to do and it remains probably the hardest Disgaea in the series in my opinion.

September Issue if Qore had just passed week ago which wasn't that bad as August Issue which I didn't like. I'll wait until my year subscription is over next year and see if its worth continuing paying.

Since today is September 12, I'm highly expecting Socom: Confrontation beta to be released for Qore users. I'm still not sure why we had to wait a week for it, but I let it go already. What did kind of amuse me was that I won't be able to get the beta until 5 PST or in my time 8 EST PM my time tonight...

So much for the 12th release date, I'll lucky if I get it running by midnight.

Regardless, we waited so far, one more day won't kill me. :)

Once I get some play time with the Beta, I'll share my experience with it.

Another month gone by and August issue of Qore has arrived, I'll start with what it's included:

- DC Universe Online, Lego Batman, Baja: Edge of Control, NBA 09: The Inside and in download center we have Resistance 2 beta as well as Qore Theme.

As usual, each game is broken into sections where more developers interview is shown with some nice artwork to play around with, even though I'm not a DC fan, the artwork was nice.

To be honest this issue is the weakest one, at least for me. The last two had some good info on games I'm looking forward to while this one really didn't had anything to my taste.

Resistance 2 beta is fine but we'll have to wait until September to be able to join, if everything goes to the plan, which you can never be sure in video game business.

We were also introduced to a new hostess and I'm not sure why am I getting this funny feeling of similarity to Gametrailers Babes all of a sudden. Is there no "Gamer Guy" anymore? I have nothing against a female hosts, but our main lady has been acting quite childish lately and I get the impression the Qore is leaning towards the "Yo, check the chick out man!" attitude and horny teenagers..

This was mostly relevant to August Issue, but time will tell. Either way, the developers commentaries is the best part, and I like the artwork of different games, which were also less present then previous June and July issues.

I'm already subscribed for a year, however I'm very positive that during this time it will be determinative if I'll continue as a member of Qore in future.

Disappointing August Issue for me.

On the bright side, for those of you who are not up to speed as of yet, this Thursday's PSN update gave us HOME Theme which will automatically qualify any user who downloads the theme, (and uses it I presume), to be a participant in close HOME beta.

I'm not yet sure how will Sony chose: "Who should be accepted" but the recent news/rumors seems to go towards the SONY deciding for themselves who will be chosen by the user activity. I'm not sure if that means PSN activity, online activity or whichever else agenda they are planning.

Either way, it won't hurt to download it and qualify, that is if you're interested in HOME.

After a few days of play time with Soul Calibur IV I finally found some time to properly spend time and review it. Aside from that I have been spending a lot of time time with Legend of Dragoon, I'm abut 60 hours into the last 4th CD and hopping to finish it up in few days.

I'm still waiting on JRPG's to arrive and until then I really felt nostalgic to play some older games.

In the last few weeks, I replayed Kingdom Hearts I and still have to pick up KH2, spend countless of hours with excellent Dragon Quest VIII, borrowed my friends Xenogears and Shadowhearts and still beating my head upside down with Persona 3 ;)

The good news is that Disgaea 3 is coming out in the end of this month, August 28th I believe in North America and I'm more then exited for new Naruto game.

That's pretty much all for now, works keeps me busy and I'm looking forward to what 3rd issue of Qore will bring in August on which I'll definitely elaborate when it comes out.

It's been a long time since I first started playing Street Fighter, my first game in the series was Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, released in 1991, which was the first true sequel to the original Street Fighter that I discovered some time later in the the same year.

I was very young around 9 years of age and to my young and unexplored mind the voices, attacks, music - all of it stuck in my head even to today's age. Street Fighter II was the first game to give players the options to fight one on one and chose from variety of characters. The replay values back in the day was incredible, you always wanted more. Each character had over 30 moves, including throws and two or three specials.

As the time went up to 1995, few more updated of Street Fighter II came out, such as: Street Fighter II Dash in Japan which featured slightly improved graphics including differently colored backgrounds and refined gameplay. A second upgrade, titled Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting introduced faster gameplay than its predecessors, different character colors and new special techniques.

The biggest change came from this installation: Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, this title gave the game a complete graphical change and introduced four new playable characters (Cammy, Fei Long, Dee Jay and T.Hawk), few new special moves, and also there were added some improvements into basic moves of some characters, I recall Ryu's Hadouken being faster and better visually enchanted. If I remember correctly Ken also had improvements.

The popularity of Street Fighter II was enormous, different version were released on almost every major system back in the day including Super NES, Sega Genesis, 3DO, Dreamcast, PlayStation, Saturn, etc..

And then came new series, in 1995 Street Fighter Alpha series came out which had same resemblance to DarkStalkers and X-Man Children of Atom. It was influenced by Street Fighter II: Animated movie which also came out in the same year. I personally did not like Alpha series and still don't. The addition of Super Power moves, chained combos and all the Ultra power-ups wasn't my cup of tea.

Street Fighter for me was always a test of skill in more traditional fighting scene and Alpha Series completely turned me of, even though it was received well worldwide. Sadly I continued to enjoy the II series. There had been quite a few addon's and improvements to Alpha series but I won't go into their discussion simple because I don't like them. ^_^

Now, to the good part. My prayers were answered in 1997 with the addition of Street Fighter III. Interestingly enough that was the same year when I took on a new hobby - Anime and Manga, which I have to thank still up to date my favorite Anime movie: Original Ghost In The Shell which was out two years earlier in 1995. I had to find um, others ways, :) to actually see it. Unfortunately it was only in Japanese, but it took my interest.

Anyhow, Street Fighter III finally made me move away from SFII series. Street Fighter III: The New Generation came out in Arcades. A lot of old cast were gone which was a disappointment to me, but Ryu and my favorite Ken were both back. New folks entered the stage such as: Ibuki, brothers Yun and Yang, Alex and so forth. The new to the series were "Super Arts" where you were able to Parry the opponent. Several months later 2nd Strike was released bringing back Akuma and adding few more characters, as well as modifying the gameplay a bit, but it wasn't until Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike was released where it all came together: Chun-Li was back as well as four additional folks were added.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is till today, in 2008, considered the best pure Street Fighter, the learning and mastering of the Parry System is what made the title incredibly popular in Arcades. It still remains my favorite Street Fighter fighter even after 10 years.

The absolutely ridiculous EX series were running until 2001 but I couldn't stand it, the move to 3D is not what Street Fighter is all about.

So, the question is why I'm babbling about all this? Simple, it's because I was raised on Street Fighter, I spend numerous money in Arcades for the satisfaction of beating the living crap out of any wannabe adult, I bet real money in numerous occasions and got beat up to pulp with my parents for skipping school and wasting money. But I never had any regrets, it was all the part of growing up and to some extant while my friends ended up in overnight jail for drinking, taking drugs and wasting their health I was happily the last guy out in 3 AM in the morning with empty pockets - but happy heart.

I'm hardcore street fighter fan, but I'm not very competitive, when it comes down to it, it's the one on one fight and love for the characters that really keeps my love for the series. And one more note, 2d fighting style.

It's one of the main reasons why i love the series, i can't explain how happy I'm that Capcom decided to stick to it's roots and keep the two dimensional fighting style. It's the trademark of Street Fighter, it's soul.

On that page I'll want anyone who cares or not for that matter to check out the latest Street Fighter IV video.

Here is for 10 more years of glory, cheers!

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/streetfighteriv/video_player.html?id=KnVikmao5b0LszXY

I have had a chance to enjoy two Sid Meier's Civilizations # III and IV on my PC and I consider both, especially IV best in series.

Since this is the first console release I was left with quite the sceptical feeling that the controls, as well as the game, will not work out. I'm happy to admit, I was wrong.

Sid Meier's Civilizations Revolution (CivRev for short) kept the feel of a excellent historic turn-based gameplay that you just won't put down. The idea is still same basic: You need to take a civilization at the start of history and guide its growth through the Eras to become a world leader.

You wander the globe to gradually increase your civ's settlement size and interact with other civilizations, either through trade and technology sharing or through military encounter. There are as usual quite a few ways of wining, If you're like me, learning the future technology and building a space ship will allows you to win the game once the spaceship reaches Alpha Centaury quadrant, or you can win economically by becoming rich and building a World Bank, or by Culture, or Military Power, eliminate anyone who stand in your way, etc...

Regardless of which tree you follow there are tons of Civ's to chose from, from Russians to Japanese in total of 16 nations. The best part is, it's an incredibly re-playable game, with the starting scenarios randomized, so you never end up in the same situation twice. The CivRev is tune down from PC versions, it's more accessible, easier to navigate and friendly interface, the game speed and numerous management is also extremely well done as are my primary concern - the controls.

If you've never played Civilisation game before, you'll be up to speed in no time. If you have played Civ in the past, you'll find the console version to be friendly in its controls, though less managing which could go either way depending on your previous gaming experience. There certainly is plenty of content to enjoy.

Once you have finished the single-player game, you can play series of Play Scenarios, (you need to take the civ you're given in the situation that's provided, and then achieve the desired victory.), There will also be a Game of the Week, which provides a different scenario each week and you have to come up with best solution.

In the end, there is multiplayer action, from "head-to-head" competition to "team battles" to "free for all" fights, as well as "System Link" competition.

There is a lot of things going on in Civ games, in fact to much to write in one review, if you had a chance to play the available Demo and it sucked you in, you're going to have fantastic time.

As you have probably guessed, Civilisations Revolutions offers lots of gameplay, options and re-playability.

The best way I can describe CivRev is that it's a blend of originality and addictiveness of previous Civ's with very universal accessibility for all players. Veterans of the previous games will probably find CivRev a "lighter" version, but the phenomenal work that developers of Firaxis and 2K Games had made is entertaining and very enjoyable. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a fun and addictive turn-based or otherwise strategy game.

I would even say, a step in right Revolution.

Well instead of a whole write up, like last month, I'll just keep it short and sweet.

July issue gave us:

- Resistance 2 Info, Silent Hill: Homecoming Info, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, Madden 09, Hellboy 2 trailer and in download center we have:

- Naruto: Exclusive demo, Resistance 2 theme.

Same as previous week, all three games, Naruto, Resistance 2 and Silent Hill had some good info on them including developers talk, more in game video footage, our lovely female host making a laughing stock out of herself, (I actually like her as one for some weird reason..) and picture gallery with some very nice resolution and detail, especially on Naruto and Resistance 2.

Depending on how much time you spend on gallery, the show will give you good half and hour- 40 minutes to go through all of the content.

My personal anticipated feature was the Naruto game since I enjoyed the Anime before Shuppidden days and still actively love to read Manga which is surprisingly well done.

Since I played most of the PS2 versions (not available outside of Japan) I was very pleased that the same team worked on Ninja Storm, and it shows it.

I absolutely love it. There are some points in the demo where the game blends with Anime style so well, it really makes a great impression. Very well done, definitely a must buy for myself.

That's it for Qore.

On the side note, I finally finished Metal Gear Solid 4 and I'm currently playing it once again on harder difficulty which is quite challenging, but not impossible if patience serves you well. :)

I also decided to start Final Fantasy Crisis Core once again as New Game + and I brought out my Daxter game which I haven't touched before. So far it's a great platformer.

Everyone knows when I'm not drinking with friends, I'm Star Wars fan in hearth! Renegade Squadron has all of great Lucas's music and Galactic Conquest mode rock hard! Not to mention Force Unleashed has more all exited.

What else... oh yea, not sure about everyone, but the little early ago announcement of Final Fantasy: Disida has all my FF fan inside of me cry for release date. ^_^

Other then that, I'm still working my way with GTA IV as I can't seem to finish the bloody game, (I blame MGS4 :p ).

I have two games on horizon that I'm ready for, both new Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution on July 8th and Soul Calibur IV (makes Vader voice!) on July 29th make me happy.

That's enough updates for one time. ^_^

After some additional debate with myself I decided to subscribe to Qore.

For those who are not familiar with it, in simple words, it's a interactive gaming magazine with few extra features. The price for a yearly subscription is 24$ with total of 12 issues, 1 per month respectively. You can also buy each episode individually (PSN) for a little over 3$ is memory serves right.

If you're looking for a year issue, it's a no brain-er to buy the whole package for 24$ then paying one episode at a time. It will cost you over 30$ that way.

So, is it worth?

It's hard to say, since June was the first issue I was left with a feeling that a bit more features would be welcome. Since my average price for OPM (Official PlayStation magazine) is 10$ I found the price to be very reasonable for a whole year.

The June Issue basically included:

(Commentaries/Videos/Pictures/Themes amongst other features for each column/game)

" Socom: U.S. Navy Seals Confrontation "

- The Ultimate Team

- Socom Gallery

- Socom Theme

- Clan Warfare

- Socom Beta (When it becomes available)

" Soulcalibur IV "

- A Fighting Game With Soul

" Afro Samurai "

- Out For Justice

" Secret Agent Clank "

- Gadgetry of Robot

- Sneak Clank

- Gadgets and More

" Star Wars: The Force Unleashed "

- This Ain't Yoda's Force

- Explore the Galaxy

- The Rancor Battle (Uber Cool by the way)

- Graphic Novel

- Game Art Gallery

- Dath Katers

" What's Hot "

- Hulk, brand new trailer

" Download Center"

- Socom Confrontation beta (download when available)

- Socom Theme download

- Calling All Cars (If you get the yearly subscription, you get the game for free).

And that summarises it. I'm a Star Wars fan and I was very pleased with quite a good info about the game. The Qore is represented in High Definition completely which is a fantastic touch. Qore is your favorite magazine, only it's cheaper, you don't have to read and can enjoy it right in front of your TV.

I can't recommend Qore to everyone since I believe more features should be added, but it definitely satisfied my thirst, especially since all the information Qore had I wasn't able to find openly online.

Unless you have paying subscription for places like IGN, Gamespot amongst others these inside/behind the scenes videos, commentaries, etc - is a great additional information for a gamer like myself.

I'm looking forward to July issue and hopefully with more features and games. Not a bad start.

What can I say, after finishing ACT I a little over five hours I'm left speechless. The presentation, audio, gameplay, story and phenomenal in-game cut scenes that are moving the story forward had be glued to my TV.

I have had some experience since I was a Metal Gear Online beta tester and I was pleased to see that controls haven't changed much and are still very responsive. For new folks it will take a little time to get accustomed to them but with MENU options giving you all the moves shown all it takes is little time to master them.

You can also push SELECT at any time and controls are shown as well for easy access.

Meeting the Rat Patrol for the first time is quite a scene as is getting more familiar with amazing FROGs unit.

MGS4 really impressed me with audio, the bullets sounds are unbelievable realistic, you can hear the footsteps, wind blowing the war torn suburbs of rampages city while dust and blood cover your gaming screen in midst of battles.

I still have quite a way to go, but my first impression is beyond my expectations. This was my most anticipated game of the year and so far, it hasn't failed me in any way. Masterpiece of a game in every way, bravo Kojima.

I haven't had much time to play lately at all. The new job is taking all of my free time and it won't luckily change for another month or two.

On the side note, Metal Gear Solid 4 is almost here. I'll try to spend as much time with it as I can, but I won't nearly have enough free time to spend with it. Aside form maybe Sundays.

Either way, it's one of mine most anticipated games this year and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Since Euro Cup has began already (Soccer for those who don't care. 8)), I picked up Euro 2008 and I have to admit It's very enjoyable.

I kinda wish there were more teams to play with but it has plenty already. Plus I prefer Winning Eleven anyway, but this is every so often so I can't miss on one of my favorite sports. (Go Croatia. :P)

Everything else is doing well, once the summer is over I'll have much more free time to enjoy more games, and I'm really looking forward to August - December games, especially Little Big Planet which I have already named Most Innovative and Fun game of 2008 personally.

I believe LBP can be the new Mario, but that's just my opinion of course.

I also decided to not upgrade my computer and instead save money and focus on saving up for Xbox 360. Why? Because I can :)

And I want both systems so I can enjoy all the games it has to offer, not to mention I can rub it in nicely and laugh at all fanboys who are still living in some kind of dream world, no offence to anyone.

I have friends who only own one system, but don't even know what Fanboy word means, see they are the smart ones, they don't visit online forums which 95% of the time cloud ones judgments.

Game on! ^_^