I haven't posted a blog entry since spring time.
Stuff has happened since then.

First of all, all the next-generation consoles have been revealed.
Im very impressed and definetly getting all of them.

Second, I have applied for 'Games Graphics Design' bachelor course(3 years) in Australia. Would be incredibly brilliant if they accepted me.

I will try to post blogs as often as I can but now Im and hurry and have to go. *runs*

Im gonna do a bunch of (very)quick reviews incase anyone ever wondered what my opinions are. Im going to do something similar to the old Dailyradar site used to with only 5 possible game scores(mine are: Direct hit, Buy, Bargain, Skip, Avoid). It was a great system and it made everyone READ the reviews. No score complaining either. Here we go: God of War(PS2) An excellent, excellent game. One of the best adventure games I have ever played. It scores full pot in all categories. There isn't much more to say than run out and buy it! Definetly a mans game though. Lots of blood, growls and nipples. DIRECT HIT! Resident Evil 4(Gamecube) Wow, another truly mind blowing game. This is the second game already this year that's been better than anything seen last year(God of War was the first). Best graphics in any console game with full pot in every category except for the standard cheesy RE storyline and performance. A brilliant game. DIRECT HIT! WipEout Pure(PSP) The best WipEout since WipEout 2097/XL. It's the best PSP game around. It got breath-taking graphics and style, excellent music and gameplay. Not as addictive as one might think but it's COOL. This is the game I use when I secretly show of my PSP at the bus. DIRECT HIT! Twisted Metal: Head On(PSP) 3D car-combat online on a hand-held!?!? Ye, we have come to this day and age. And it's a damn sweet game. Not truly memorable but the frantic gameplay is there and it's a online handheld game at launch. Much fun guaranteed. Buy! X-Files: Resist or Serve(PS2) Mix X-files with a second rate Resident Evil(the old ones) and you got this. Excellent dialogue and setting but the gameplay may be abit troubled and the animation pretty much sucks. But the game is solid, and worth it at a low price for the fans. Bargain. Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball(Xbox) The game plays pretty good and it's a nice overall package. The game get's repetive pretty quickly but it is a nice game and a very nice introduction to the sport. Play with the music of for total realism. Use the sound to your advantage. Good gameplay though repetive and not that deep. Bargain.

(Spoilers) (ye, I know Im about 2-3 years(2 years here in Norway) late on the ending but I never got around to picking the DVD up before now.) Damn that was sad. What a perfect ending to possibly the greatest series ever made. Im glad the series didn't go out with a action-bang and the final scene with that bittersweet music and Mulder and Scully in each others arms... "Maybe there is hope". Bittersweet is the best word to describe it I think. Maybe December 21st, 2012 we will see a final X-files movie at the cinemaes deciping the alien invasion and the outcome. There is a movie coming in 2006 as well. Again, I loved the last episode and now I am sad.

Im really, really hyped for this game right now. Gamespot sealed the deal with an excellent 9.3 review. This game just look so RIGHT. Around 250$ or so but I crave this game. I just need to have it. You know those good moments when you just NEED to have your girlfriend? This is that kinda feeling(though just totally different). This game brings out the beast in me. Rooar!

Thanks to Gamespots new Union feature we Europeans now have a place here were we can call home. The European Gamers Network. 53members strong as of writing, this union has a bright future ahead of it. Join us! http://www.gamespot.com/unions/home.html?union_id=eugamers Other news: God of War is getting reviews like there are no tommorrow. 9.5(Play), 10 & 10(Gameinformer) and 9.8 at IGN. Possibly the premiere adventure game on the PS2? It looks downright "bad-ass" and Im cursing at the June PAL release date. Another game scoring very well is WipEout Pure. My number #1 most wanted PSP launch game is also the ones getting the highest ratings(well side by side with Lumines but that's a puzzler and something I already have). WipEout is back in shape baby and Im already waiting for my package to arrive here in Europe. Happy times indeed.

Wow, the time has really went past me the last month. Been playing World of WarCraft nonstop since the european release on february 11th. Im a lvl 41 Undead Rogue now with my own mount and guild. This game sucks out the time of my social life(Social life = Hanging out at the IGN boards). Kudos to Blizzard for making another brilliant game but I really have to start winding down the playtime with this beast. On another note, I have played MGS3 which is one of the better console games of this generation(as in PS2, Xbox and Gamecube). It's just so darn brilliant. I think Greg Kasavin underrated the game abit in his review(well, it's his opinion but everyone who plays it seem to think much better of it. Something he somewhat admitted in his journal). If you haven't gotten your hands on MGS3 yet then you know what to do. The ending... the sad blissfull ending. Right now Im looking forward to reviews of a bunch of PSP launch games(WipEout, Untold Legends, Metal Gear Acid and Twisted Metal(which Im importing here to Europe) being top priority) alongside God of War. All being released next week. The world is going to end.

Taken from Comingsoon.net:

"A woman desperate to save her dying child finds herself trapped in an alternate reality as she searches for her daughter in a dangerous world of demons.
Rose cannot accept the knowledge that her daughter Sharon is dying of a fatal disease. Over the protests of her husband, she flees with her child, intending to take the girl to a faith healer. On the way, she ends up driving through a portal in reality, which takes her to the eerie and deserted town of Silent Hill.
Sharon disappears in Silent Hill, and Rose follows what she thinks is her daughter's silhouette all over town. It's soon clear the town is not like any place she's ever been. It's inhabited by a variety of creatures and a living darkness that descends and literally transforms everything it touches. The human inhabitants—the ones who are left—are trapped and fighting a losing battle against the Darkness.
Joined by a cop named Cybil, who has been sent to bring her and Sharon back, Rose searches for her little girl while learning the history of Silent Hill and that Sharon is just a pawn in a larger game."

-------Spoiler Warning(ending)---------

"To save her daughter, Sharon makes a deal with a demon in the form of a little girl, and allows the forces of darkness to take the town and destroy those who tried to destroy the demon. In the end, she saves her daughter but at a high price."

-------End spoiler--------------------------

Damn, I can't wait for this movie. The plot sounds really good and the team behind it are very talented.

In about 24 hours from the time I write this entry, the Cell chip will be unveiled to the public world. For those who don't know what it is, it's a revolutionary cpu which IBM, Toshiba and Sony has been working on since 2001 and spent over 1 billion $ on. The first products it will be found in is Sony's PS3(PS3 tools) and IBM wokstations. Apparantly, a single Cell chip is capable of 4.6ghz and 250 gflops!(!!) That's something Intel and others have yet been able to do(due to heating issues). What's truly revolutionising about the Cell is it's network capabilities though. Besides from moving extreme amounts of data fast, it can also work with every other Cell based systems aslong as they are in a (fast enough)network be it PS3, cellular-phone or a toaster. If your Cell workstation lacks calculating-power it drains calculating power from your lazy friends networked Cell workstation. Both Sony and Toshiba have announced that Cell based HDTV's will start to roll out in 2006 among other products. The future will be known...in 24 hours. EDIT: The CELL has just won the Micro Processor Report (MPR)'s Best Technology Award: "* The Cell processor, being developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba at the STI Design Center, promises to be a new architecture optimized for broadband media and 3D graphics performance, but with uses beyond the game console. With the promise of incredible performance and scalability, and what is basically a vector supercomputer on a chip, we present the 2004 Microprocessor Report Analysts' Choice Award for Best Technology to the Cell Processor. Congratulations to the STI Design Center and the participating employees at IBM, Sony, and Toshiba for what promises to be a very exciting challenge to mainstream processors."

So... only a few weeks before they start shooting this movie. The director, Christophe Gans, is the one behind the most expensive french movie of all time: Brotherhood of the Wolf. I thought it was a very good movie(though, I didn't like the protagonist) and it's a clear sign that this director got some skills in moviemaking. Roger Avary, part-writer of Pulp Fiction(and soon Beowulf), is also participating in this project. He won an Oscar for his writing in Pulp Fiction and is respected all around. He and Christophe have brainstormed the Silent Hill movie plot for most of the past 6 months and if you want to take a peek into his life, you should visit his online diary: http://www.avary.com/rogeravary/journal/journal.php The movie got several other well known people in the movie industry though I won't care to dig that up again(I remember movies like Matrix, Blade Runner, Dark City being mentioned) but the whole project sounds very interesting. Both Gans and Avary think SH2 is the best game so expect alot of personal drama in the movie(which has it's own story. It relies around a woman and her daughter who are by mystic means called to the town of Silent Hill...). And even better, the original Silent Hill game team is providing music! At a meeting(pictured below), Gans told Yamaoka-san this: "I will use all of your original music -- of course -- I won't change it, it's perfect." This movie will break the curse of bad game-to-movie adaptions. May Paul.W.Anderson and Uwe Boll burn for their sins.

Im starting to get immensly hyped for God of War. It looks to set the new standard of violent and adrenalin filled combat which were previously set by Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden. Not only does the combat look extremly fun, the game itself looks to have a style that's eons beyond seen in the competition. The art direction in God of War is phenomenal. Everything from the hero, to the monsters and enviroment just looks right. And besides, this game seems to have a plot that's well worth your time. It's good to hear then, that Sony is backing the title with good marketing. Besides G4TV premiering a brand new trailer for the game alongside a documentary about the game, Sony is going to preview the game at this years Winter X Games event(which has Sony as one of its main sponsors). Get the word out Sony, this game deserves it. You can read the diary of the games director(David Jaffe of Twisted Metal fame) online at this adress: http://www.davidjaffe.modblog.com/ Im looking into buying myself stocks from videogame related companies. Not really for the purpose of earning money but more for the sake of being "involved". Im thinking about Take two for the moment. Their newly established 2k Games division alongside getting the rights to future Fireaxis games(Civilization, Pirates!...) and the MLB license are some very nice moves. I think the sports games under 2k games may do very well. Ecspecially with Visual Concepts being a part of the team. Im also thinking about buying some Sony stocks. The PSP is going to be a huge success and imo Sony's 1st party lineup is as strong as Nintendo's. Maybe even stronger? It's mostly out of personal admiration though. What they have done to the industry in the last 10 years is amazing. They are probably the healthiest thing that has ever happened to gaming. Ever.