YAY FOR RETRO GAMING! (if you consider the Gamecube retro).
So, I finally ended up buying a GC............again. I got rid of my old one when I bought my Wii about 2 years ago. And after trading in my Wii for a PS3 about 1 year ago, I was left Gamecube-less. However, I still kept on to Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero just in case I decided to go ahead and re-buy a Gamecube.

So after about a year of both of those games just staring at me saying "PLEASE BUY A GAMECUBE AGAIN! DON'T YOU REMEMBER HOW MUCH FUN WE WERE?", I gave in and bought one:P Not only was this a fantastic opportunity to replay those RE games but to also buy some GC games I missed out on last gen. So I ended up picking up Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Metroid Prime. But much to my surprised I also found Viewtiful Joe 2(which I thought was lost) and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door(I never played since it was originally for my brother and I had no interest into it) laying around the house. It did cost me $9 to repair Paper Mario and Viewtiful Joe 2 but it was sooooo worth it! I'm so glad I bought a GC again! Viewtiful Joe 2 is sweet platformer/beat'em up with lots of awsome(WTF is up with GS and the "s-word"?)and cool moves.Plus I noticed it's developed by Clover Studios, who also made Okami(one of my all-time favorite games) so I was pretty sure VJ2 was gonna be sweet! Also starting playing Wind Waker due to my craving for a Zelda game(since this one is actually the only one I've missed out on). It's a fantastic game but it's prettyeasy for a Zelda game and it's really "kiddy" too. Mainly because of the art direction(apparently I can't say the "s-word") but also because the game's difficulty seems a bit more aimed towards younger players. However, it's still a Zelda game and a great one of that! Finally I want touch on Metroid Prime ............... WOW! What a game this is! This game was WAY ahead of it's time in gameplay, puzzles, graphics(I still can't believe this was made in 2002!), exploration, sound design, atmosphere and just all around fun! Easily the best FPS I've ever played! It's really refreshing to play a game like Metroid Prime after so many FPS games have come out in the past year or so. Seriously, if you consider yourself a gamer then you should OWN a copy a Metroid Prime(unless you played it like 20 times which is what I did with RE4:P). Just typing about how awesome Metroid Prime is makes me want to go and start playing again. I haven't really played Paper Mario that much due to it being an RPG and once I start playing a good RPG, I don't stop until about 40 hours in!So, I wanna finish the other games before jumping onto Paper Mario(which could take awhile considering each game).

If you're wondering where I bought my GC, I got it at EBgames for $25. Pretty good deal in my opinion considering how good the RE games are and Metroid Prime. For the games, Wind Waker cost around $25 and Metroid Prime was only $10! I'm extremely happy with my purchase, especially since MP was only $10 and I already know it's one of my all time favorite games. It's a good thing I bought it too because I don't see much coming out in the next few months in terms of PS3 games. Infamous looks okay, the gameplay is looks fun but might get boring and the story and characters look pretty dull. Hopefully, White Knight Chronicles will come out in NA before the end of the summer. As for the rest the year, I'm looking forward to Mordern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, God of War 3(hopefully), Heavy Rain looks interesting and BioShock 2 (still haven't played the first one, but I loved the demo).

Anyways, I think I'll play some more Metroid Prime:D

Happy gaming to everyone!

"The name's Bond..........James Bond."

The line that ended the best Bond movie to date; it always puts a grin on my face everytime I hear it. Casino Royale is one my favorite action movies of all time. It showed Bond in a different view, a darker, younger, more brutal and inexperience view. It by far made Daniel Craig's Bond the best. Nearly every aspect of Casino Royale was damn near perfect. As you may have already suspected I was hyped for Quantum of Solace. The ending for Casino Royale was absolutely flawless that led perfectly into a sequel; it was too open ended and it wasn't too conclude. I mean how better could you end a Bond movie than with "The name's Bond.........James Bond" followed by the James Bond theme. Obviously, Quantum of Solace had a lot to live up to. While it was a great film and had at least triple the amount of action scenes as Casino Royale, it didn't quite live up to the greatness of Casino Royale.

As far as the story is concerned it's impossible to explain Quantum of Solace without ruining the twists and the ending of Casino Royale. So if you haven't seen Casino RoyaleI strongly reccomend you watch it before reading this review and watching Quantum of Solace. Now that my spoiler warning is done let me get right into 007:Quantum of Solace. After being betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved Bond begins his hunt for this mysterious organization by interrogating Mr.White. Need less to say this when the **** hits the fan and man does it spread. Bond learns that this mysterious organization behind Mr.White has people "everywhere". Here begins the story for Quantum of Solace. The story is not nearly as interesting as it was in Casino Royale. The chemistry between Bond and Vesper as well as the tension everytime Bond starts playing the poker game against LeChiffre is a part of what made Casino Royale an entertaining film. I must credit Daniel Craig though, his performance in this movie was absolutely stellar. Just as in the last film he makes a perfect James Bond and you may even say he's slightly better in this film than the last. His character has shown much development since Casino Royale. Bond is colder, meaner and angrier. 

From the beginning of the movie to about 40 mins from the ending the movie absolutely fantastic. You have characters from Casino Royale interacting with Bond and really well done action sequences. This movie has boat chases, car chases and even plane chases. At around 40 mins before the ending the movie starts to go downhill, the plot becomes very uninteresting and the ending is quite unsastifying, leaving too many questions unanswered. However, the actors do give an extremely strong performance right until the end which doesn't completely dragged the movie down. Not to mention the action is pretty amazing too, in the first few minutes of the movie you get an intense car chase. It's definitely one of the best ways to suck the viewer in. I am glad that Quantum of Solace kept a lot the action that made Casino Royale so exciting.

Overall the movie is really a must see for any action fan or Bond fan. Keep in mind it's not as entertaining as Casino Royale and the ending does have some problems but in the end it seems Casino Royale did recieve a well deserved sequel. To sum it up quickly, Quantum of Solace is not a dissappointment but not as good as Casino Royale.

Overall Score : 8.5/10

I must say first off, I'm a fan of adventure games like Zelda, Okami,and Shadow of the Colossus. And for me, a good game has to have a great single player experience. Without it I can lose attention to it very quick. Now, this some what conflicts with the patterns of games coming out this gen. Nearly all of them have multiplayer. Now, I don't mind multiplayer at all, in fact I rather enjoy it. But, the only problem I have is when developers focus more time on multiplayer aspect and don't improve or polish the single player. And personally, single player is what's makes the game. Call me "old school", call me whatever but, when a game has a great single player.... that is a game I will replay again and again.

With the advancements in the internet, sharing material,info,news and other things has never been easier. It would seem logical that video games would be enhanced by some means when online gaming rised up as the center piece of this gen's living room.But, did it really? For me, most certainly not. Now, don't get me wrong I throughly enjoy a good multiplayer experience(every now and then, I'll pop in Battlefield:Bad Company and have some destructive FPS fun). However, that being said..... if a game's multiplayer is BETTER than, the single player aspect then I don't think I could appreciate it as much.

Okay, so I think I talked long enough about the fact that I obviously prefer single player over multiplayer. Now let's talk about what makes a good single player game. For me it's three things: details,replay and polish. First off, details. Maybe it's because I draw sometimes(like an idea will randomly pop in my head and I'll just draw it)but, I freakin' LOVE a detailed game. I eat that stuff up like a well cooked, juicy,tender steak.:) I mean, just look at my ratings for games I've played. Ones I've gave 10s: Metal Gear Solid 4,Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, and Okami. All very detailed games with little things placed here and there. When I mean detailed I don't mean graphics, I mean the world in which the game takes place has small details that add to the immersion. For example,(those of you who play Shadow of the Colossus might know what I mean) there's this one place in Shadow of the Colossus called the "Green Capes";the single most beautiful thing I have ever seen in a videogame. Beyond the realistic imagery in current gen games, a last-gen PS2 game(not even Gamecube or Xbox) had the most stunning thing I have yet to see. It's something I can't even describe with text or speech, it's something you have to see and experience to truly understand the sensation.

(This blog post is aimed towards fanboys, people who visit Systems Wars a lot and pretty much any gamer who needs reassurance that what they bought was right for them and not for someone else)

As with any product you have haters and fans and then, you have the fanboys. As with every product it's fanboys blindly follow the company through Hell or high water. The exact same happens with videogame consoles or even more so.

I guess you could say the System Wars forum is the inspiration for this blog post. After all the arguing, banning, suspensions, flaming, trolling and God knows what else. I've came to one simple conclusion it's all opinions. Not fact, not a quote from the Bible, nothing but an individual's personal belief about something wether it be educated or not.

What I'm trying to say is it's pointless arguing over a console. It honestly doesn't matter what other people belief about it, if you enjoy and you like it that's all that should concern you. Howeve more often than, not people freak out the any time they hear their favorite current gen console was put down(or even perhaps a past gen console)."360 breaks all the time" "Why the PS3 is crap" "Wii is for kids" if you go to System Wars you'll see countless threads like this. All of which are nothing but, opinons. Opinons taken as fact.

The PS3 DOES have lots of games. The 360 DOESN'T break as much as people would like to believe. The Wii DOES have games for the hardcore.More people should think like this. Just because someone said one console sucks deosn't mean it does. At the end of the day it comes down to what suits your needs, what you want from your gaming experience and what games you want to play.

My messages is this: don't take opinions as facts. Take them as that indivdual's personal belief about something wether it be educated or not.

In 2005 it was clear that Resident Evil 4 was the one of the greatest games ever created and definitely the greatest survival-horror game of all time but, now 2 years later it is on the Nintendo Wii. So, the question is "Should we buy this game or stick to our PS2 and GC versions? ". Well, if you have a Wii you should definitely buy, if you don't this is the one game that will make you realized the Wii really is a great system. All it had to do was show it's potential.

I recently bought the Wii and this was the first game I bought with it, I was a little disappointed that there was no "exclusive Wii material" on it besides an Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles video. Also the graphics are exactly the same as the Game-cube version, which isn't completely bad. They still look beautiful but, this the next gen they could have at least touched it up a bit. You'll notice closely that some of the textures are blurred, which at some points can ruin the shine of this great gem.

So, let's get into the game-play aspects. The big thing with the "Wii Edition" is that you use the Wii-mote to aim and shoot. You press the B trigger and Leon points his weapon. Pressing the A button will make Leon fire his gun. The exception this is of course you're Sniper Rifle, in which case you use the Nunchuk's analog stick to aim. Movement and running is done by the Nunchuk's analog stick and the Z trigger. Using you're knife requires a slash of the Wii-mote, which isa lotmore fun than the traditional button lay out. When slashing,firing and reloading it sound will also come out of the Wii-mote's speaker, although it is low-quality.

Now, I would say what I thought could use " improvement on ". You cannot shoot while running, which for a game that makes you rely so much on guns alone is surprising they didn't include that feature into this version. Also, they should have switched the functions of buttons A and B, it may be something minor but, can offer a whole different experience for the player. The graphics need an upgrade, it seemed the GC and PS2 versions push the limits of each console but, the Wii Edition sort of relaxed with this game. All I'm saying is that minor errors kept this game from being perfection. And perfection what is was on Game-cube but, sadly not on this console.

So, you've heard what I had to say. the new controls and addition of the PS2 content with the GC's graphics makes this a wiener(oops. I mean winner :) ) Although the fact of no Wii exclusive contents holds back this games potential. For those of you who played the GC version should check this one out, for those of you who played the PS2 version it is a DEFINITE buy!! If you played both (like me) you might feel slightly disappointed.

Please leave a comment below if you agree or dis-agree with what I said, also say which version is you're fav :)