...stay tuned.

I haven't written on this blog for ages, I mean the last thing I posted was that crappy Harry Potter comic and that was three years ago! However, in light of the recent reveal of the new location for the ne Assassin's Creed, I felt the need to express my hopes for what the game will be:

Multiple cities

Colonial America, I feel, is a more than exciting time period for AC3, full of the on-going conflict and political intrigue you expect from an Assassin's Creed game. Also technology will have increased much further than in Renaissance Italy, meaning exciting new possibilities for gadgets and weapons. Also I am ashamed to admit this is an area of history I am quite hazy on (being British and all that, they tend not to teach us about conflicts we lost in schools), so I will be excited to explore it as an assassin!

However, cool setting aside; I really hope the game features multiple cities! Rome and Constantinople were great, but they will not match the excitement and anticipation I felt when you were sent off to visit a new and different location in the first two games.

Trim the fat

Revelations was a ruddy good game, I'm not contesting that, but I felt there were far too much optional content and secondary memories distracting from the core experience. I remember the original Assassin's Creed being criticised for lack of variety, now Revelations had too much variety! The bomb crafting and den defence were not boring distractions, but neither of them match the pure exhilaration of free running across the rooftops, or leaping down upon your prey, hidden blade glinting in the sunlight. What I really hope for the game is that they refine these core elements, tighten the platforming, and make combat as precise and stylish as it can be.

Protagonist who is as endearing as Ezio

I love Ezio, he is possibly my favourite video ever character (aside from Crash Bandicoot, but that's another story), he was a charming and charismatic lead, and in his most challenging moments you felt for him. This was one of the things that made ACII a big improvement over the original AC. Try as I might, I struggled to like Altair, with his out of place American accent and his general cocky demeanour. Hopefully the new protagonist will be as likable as Ezio, but for his own reasons, I'm not saying I want an Ezio clone!

The series takes a break

Finally, I hope that this will be the last entry for two or three years at least. Ubisoft unquestionably make a shed load of money from this franchise, and I understand why there have been yearly instalments for the past three years. It has actually been a quite a clever move, these games have built up a momentum to take us into ACIII, and kept the plot fresh in our memory, even though, no doubt, we will still be slightly confused by it.

As this is supposed to conclude the Desmond story arc, I hope Ubisoft will take time to think about the next game (prequel, sequel, or both!). They need to be able to create a viable narrative reason to return to the AC universe, instead of churning out yearly installments, otherwise it risks becoming just another blockbuster moneymaking franchise like FIFA or COD. Fingers crossed, this won't be the case, and maybe, just maybe, they will hold out and launch their next title on the next generation of consoles, what ever they may be...

Yes i went to see Harry Potter last night, it was very good, but for those who are picky about the accuracy of the book film translation, will find that there have been many changes to the way the story unfolds, which my mother frequently reminded me of on the way back from the cinema. My advice to those people is to those people, is to view it as just a film and not relate it to the book whatsoever, otherwise you will get incredibly frustrated and possibly explode.
All in all film was a good one, i think they got the balance between the humour and the darker parts just right, and to be quite honest i don't think i could have pictured anyone other than Jim Broadbent playing Slughorn, perfect casting in my opinion. I was even on the verge of tears at the sad part towards the end (HP fans will know what i'm talking about, otherwise you shall have no spoilers from me :])
Oh and i am quite excited after seeing the new Alice in Wonderland trailer, you gotta love Burton/Depp collabs :)

TTFN!

JB x

Is it me or is the games industry getting a bit obsessed with motion control?

I did this quickly, i know it's not the best drawing ever.

If you haven't seen Microsoft and Sony's new motion control things here you go:

Microsoft
Sony

TTFN!

JB x

Hello everyone!

Right, well i got selected for the closed beta of Dragonica, wooo! So what do i think of it? Well, controls-wise it was pretty good (i used my keyboard), you could move about the side scrolling environment quite easily, although i noticed some of the more impatient players double dashing and jumping in a vain attempt to move from place to place faster. There was alot of button mashing involved in combat, even with the option of several attacks, I still found myself using the same attack over and over again to quickly dispatch enemies.

The cartoony visuals were cool, i doubt the game would have quite the same appeal if it had gone for a more realistic approach. For each class (warrior, magician, archer and thief) there were a variety of weapons, armours etc. all equally nice to look at and readily available to purchase from the various stall holders or given as rewards for completing quests. However I did feel that there could have been more customisation options on the initial creation of your character (eg. different hairstyles, faces etc.)

I didn't get to play it as much as i would have liked but unfortunately i had previous commitment (college work, augh!) The open beta starts on the 10th of June, so i recommend you check it out!http://en.dragonica.gpotato.eu/

TTFN!

JB x

Hello everyone!

Oh dear... long time-no blogging :? Anyway, to business!

Yesterday i listened to the GameSpot UK Podcast and decided to look up the new MMO they featured : Dragonica. Now in the past, i've tryed to get into MMO's and failed, mainly because i was scared of subscribtion fees and i got bored of the limitations on the supposed free-to-play ones (Runescape anyone?). However, I'm actually genuinely excited by the game and I've registered for the Closed Beta and fingers-crossed i'll get a place.

Also excited about Patapon 2, so I'm currently trying to find the time to finish the first one before a go out and purchase.

Thats all for now, until next time!

JB x

Hello!

It's been half a month or so since my last post and to be quite honest not alot's changed! I still haven't had a go at Kingdom Hearts and i'm still only training up my pokemon on fire red (i discovered that my rival was gonna kick my ass if i didn't).

However i have got further with Zelda: Phantom hourglass, can't quite remember how far but i have two of those floaty fairy spirit things now, one more to go, yay!

A couple of days ago though, made a new purchase, i bought 'Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games' partly because i felt the need to by a new Wii game and partly because i love watchin the olympics, dunno why, i don't like sport much really. Anyway it's a pretty enjoyabe game from what i've gathered so far, but it causes my brother to moan alot if he loses, and hurts your arms after three hours or so, hehe!

Anyway thats it for now!

TTFN!

JB

Hi all!

Firstly, I'm Joe, I'm 16 and I live in the UK. I'm not a serious gamer really, it's just a hobby along with other things. I'm going to be using this blog to mainly talk about the games I'm playing, what I think of em, what I'm stuck on (i get stuck alot, hehe) and other things.

The games i'm currently playing are Kingdom Hearts (PS2), Pokemon Fire Red (GBA), and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS). The first of those i haven't played on since sunday, i left it at the point where Maleficent decides to go all dragon on you, and she was very annoying so i left it and went back to search for dalmations and hang out with Pooh Bear.

I've only just started playing Fire Red again, I've never actually completed a pokemon game so I might be in luck with this one. After zipping round Silph Co. I ran into my rival and as soon as the battle began it was obivious he was gonna kick my ass; so, i did what all the brave Pokemon trainers do, turn off the game and back on again so you can train up and save your dosh.

The later of the 3 is my brothers game, as he owns a DS and I don't, so I scavenge when I can. I'm not that far through, just at the point where you have to find a way to get through the fog.

But that's about it at the moment, more updates in a week or so, when i might actually have something interesting to talk about

TTFN!!

JB