Took advantage of an offer by EB games that added $50 if you traded in 10 games that were valued at $3 or more in their system. XBox Armed & Dangerous Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance Burnout 3: Takedown Capcom Vs. SNK 2 EO Deathrow Enclave Hunter: The Reckoning I-Ninja Kelly Slater's Surfing Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Mace Griffin Nightcaster Serious Sam Super Monkey Ball GameCube Animal Crossing Beach Spikers Bomberman Cubivore Eternal Darkness Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets Knockout Kings 2003 Pac Man World 3 Star Fox Adventures PS2 Champions of Norrath Dark Cloud Def Jam Vendetta Frequency Killer 7 Mark Of Kri Maximo Sly Cooper Viewtiful Joe GBA CT Special Forces Golden Sun Tomb Raider: The Last Prophecy Overall, it was a good trade in, not only for the money, but also for the added space on my shelves. Total Number of Games = 35 Total Credit Earned = $315. So, just under $10 per game which is good value for some of the games, but a little less than expected for others. Of course, some games weren't accepted, so I'll end up either keeping them or giving them to my wife's hospital for the children to play: Not accepted, less than $3 Amped (Xbox) Azurik Bloodwake Dead To Rights Transworld Surf Unreal Championship Onimusha (PS2)

To all my Canadian brethren, Happy Queen Victoria day to all. This day is celebrated by us Canadians by sleeping in and drinking beer.

I have this insane idea that Sony is releasing stand alone Blu-Ray players at an inflated price so that they can sell more PS3's. "Well, a PS3 is cheap. It plays Blu-Ray DVD's. It'll cost you twice the price to get a stand alone player that doesn't even play games." I wonder this, because you can get a stand alone HD-DVD player for about $600 Cdn and a Blu-Ray costs $1300 Cdn. Is there really a $700 cost difference between the same formats?

Continuing to watch the live feed from the floor. Chromehounds (360): I have had mixed feelings about this game ever since watching some newly released video a few weeks ago. Now, watching the trailer at E3 and listening to the representative, I am beginning to like the look of the game again. The lighting in Chromehounds is great. Explosions and smoke affects look nice. I also like how mechanical the mechs look and how they move. The environment looks fairly destructible. The only issue I have comes from something the representative said. He began by saying that the world is completely destructible. If you can see it, you can destroy. Though, disappointingly, he said that the communication towers and other game necessary buildings cannot be destroyed. Now, I understand why they chose this route, but, in my mind, I find this detracts from the realism. If you are destroying everything, then these buildings stand out because they can't be destroyed. I would rather that they had chosen a different design route that did not depend on certain buildings being indestructible. Note about the Nintendo Wii: Hmm...just heard that the Wii will require a strip of plastic on the tv to allow for interaction with the motion sensor in the controller. I didn't even think about how the controller would interact with the tv. I figured that it would just "automagically" work. I am unsure if I want to put a strip on my tv. I guess it really depends on how it looks and how big the wires are that are attaced to the strip. Lego Star Wars: Really enjoyed the coop in the original. I will definitely get this one. More easy to get into fun. Now, which platform does one get it on? It seems to be coming out on everything. Company of Heroes: Looks like it's time to upgrade my computer. I have been looking for a good WW2 RTS since the old Close Combat games. This game looks to be a very good strategic game. The developers seem to have emphasized the importance of strategic decisions and positioning. The AI seems to be quite smart and adaptable. The graphics look great and the destructible environments add some great realism to the game. Test Drive Unlimited: Very pretty game. I will definitely be downloading the demo tonight because, no matter how pretty the game, the handling is what decides its greatness. The developers seemed very keen to hear user input on the demo so I'll be interested to see if they really implement what is suggested by players. Show Note: Wow, initially Michael Madsen seemed to be a real bastard, but, after listening to him talk about the new Reservoir Dogs game, you really start to hear the passion in his voice. He seems to really like get portrayed in games and enjoys lending his voice talent. Funny that he seemed quite disappointed that the other actors from the movie didn't lend their likeness' and voices. Dragon Ball Z game: It seemed like 2 DBZ games were being showcased by the developers. The first game seemed more cell-shaded and classic pseudo 3-D fighter game. The second game was more original. It showed the fighters in a behind-the-shoulder 3rd person view. Now this second game looked fantastic. It really seemed to showcase the classic action from the cartoon. The easy to perform air combat really caught my eye, along with the attacks that push the opposing player halfway across the map, crashing through stone etc... along the way. Ageia PPU Developer: I really don't think that this card is really necessary at this moment in game development. The issue I have with this card is that the games out right now that support it require you to install the Ageia driver even if you don't have the hardware. What happens then is that the game will run the physics engine in software mode instead of hardware mode. Now, from reviews that I have read, it appears that there is no real way to benchmark the game without the driver and hardware versus having the driver and hardware. I guess it's the cynic in me, but what if the mandatory installation of the driver actually inhibits the gameplay so that it makes having the card seem more worth it? Gears of War: Not much to say. Must buy. Though framerate and animation transition seems a little jerky, but they are still working on optimizing and polishing it. As the developer says "If there weren't bugs, it'd be shipped already".

I am working, but I am also watching the live E3 "feed from the floor" in a corner of my monitor. I must say that I am quite impressed with the quality of the feed. Crystal clear and good interviews. So far, I've seen: God of War 2: Looks like a great continuation of the original game. Not much to say because I'd definitely consider it a must buy. NHL2k7: Saw a 360 demonstration. The 2K representative essentially admitted that 2k6 for the 360 was a rushed product and that this years edition will be much more refined. I really have a lot of hope that this year is good because I haven't bought an NHL game in a few years due to the lack of differentiation between years and editions. The graphics look good with a new, more fluid, skating style. Otherwise, though, there doesn't seem to be any "wow" or "must buy" feature incorporated into 2k7. The inclusion of a rivalry system is neat, but will really depend on implementation. The new addition of a more cinematic feel to the presentation really doesn't do it for me. I am a hockey purist and I don't think I'll like hearing music while playing the game. All in all, the only thing I hope for is that this game will not ship with the crippling bugs found in previous iterations. Saint's Row: This game looks good, just not great. Pretty much Volitions take on Grand Theft Auto. The problem that this game will encounter is the comparisons to GTA. It just looks too similar. They seem to be working hard to differentiate from the GTA series by building a complex underplay and adding some humour to the game. Splinter Cell: Double Agent: Ummm...WOW. Looks fantastic. Daylight missions. Less cluttered HUD. Deadly new moves. Seems more of a cross between Ghost Recon and classic Spinter Cell play which is great in my books. NCAA 07: Looks good. I am not really a college football fan, but as a fan of football in general, I think I will look into getting this game. Looks great and looks like it plays great. Unreal Tournament 2007 : Again, another game that looks great. For the PC and PS3 only, so far. This will be another must buy for me. Though, I don't think I'd buy a PS3 only for this game so it'll probably be bought for my PC. One cool new feature is a new hover board skate board type vehicle that allows a player to quickly move around and get in the action. Super Mario Galaxy: Looks good. Looks like a good return to a Mario 64 type gameplay. The graphics look crisp and colourful. Gameplay seems straightforward, but definitely fun using the new controllers. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: Looks very similar to Prime 1&2 except for the controller integration. It's hard to tell from the stream, but the graphics looked similar to the GameCube version. Wario Ware for the Wii: Good old Wario Ware returns for another iteration on the Wii. This time, though, I think it really integrates well with the new controller. This game looks like it will be great fun with 4 other players. F.E.A.R. for 360: Creepy goodness. Graphics are set to high, action looks good. Frame rate looks stable with everything maxed out. It's nice to see a high end pc game look so good on the 360. I was not able to play this on my PC and now I am glad that I'll be able to enjoy it on my big screen tv. Justice League: Looks good. Sort of a cross between Champions of Norrath and XMen Legends. You get to take two heroes out at a time through the levels. Graphics look nice and the gameplay looks great. I have a good feeling that this game will be good.

Wow, that was definitely more entertaining than the Sony conference. Overall, Nintendo had a few good surprises, but the rest was only confirmation of what was already known. Some people are already complaining about the graphics, but I don't think Nintendo could release a console, for the price that they wish to release it at, and include a great graphics card. Nintendo isn't hoping to be the number 1 console. What Nintendo is hoping for, though, is to be the number 1 seller. The other 2 consoles may have better graphics, but Nintendo is striving for better playability, ease of use, and integration into the homes of people who are not willing to purchase either a Sony or MS high tech, perhaps consumer unfriendly, console. I was suprised to see a new Mario game so early. One had to be coming, but I was still pleasantly surprised. It looked good. Metroid looked about the same as the GameCube version, but I only watched a small video. As for the Zelda announcement, initially, I thought that they were only going to release it on the Wii. I was expecting a whole bunch of unhappy GameCube owners, but I still respected the move on Nintendo's part. Then they announced it will release on both consoles. That'll keep the GameCubers happy, but also move a lot of Wii's. Building a speaker into the phone is a great idea. It's little things like that that show creativity on Nintendos part. The accelerometer in the nun-chuk looked to be put to good use as well. I can't wait to bash open some doors or shield bash some enemies. Overall, I thought it was an entertaining show. What I really like, is that they didn't drastically alter the console since last showing it. Nintendo just seemed to show that the product is final and has been for a while now. I love the network integration feature and the controllers. Score so far: Nintendo > Sony

Well, I knew that the PS3 was going to be expensive. For the premium model, it'll cost $659 CDN plus tax, which is %14, for a total of $751. That price does not include an extra controller or a game. My 360 cost me $568, with tax, plus $60 for another controller, plus $70 for a game for a total of $698. I don't think I'll be able to justify purchasing a PS3 until there is a price drop. I barely justified the 360 at its price, though Ghost Recon really sold me and I needed something to show off my new hdtv. Now. The PS3's controller has been redesigned to be combination of the old dual-shock, with a 360ish centre logo button, and motion sensing which is most likely an offspring from the Wii. Coming with a hard drive for both models is a good idea which I think MS dropped the ball with. The "core" PS3 comes with a 20GB drive while the "premium" comes with a 60GB drive. Now I hear that that is not all that is different between the two versions. Rumours are floating around that the built in networking and memory card slots are missing from the "core" edition. The only game demo I saw was for Gran Turismo so I will not say much about the graphics yet. From what I saw, though, the demo did not show graphical abilities far superior to the 360. Perhaps at 1080p it'll look great, but I just bought an hdtv that I plan on keeping for at least 5 years and it can't display that resolution. Will my PS3 games just end up looking the same as the 360? Another note, I did not hear that all games will be in 1080p. From what I have read, it only means that the PS3 is capable of displaying in 1080p. Will developers choose to output in 1080p at the cost of other features considering the processing power required for 1080p? Well. More to come, but I thought I'd get that off my chest. Upcoming:: My review of PD0 for the 360. Thoughts on the Nintendo conference Thoughts on the MS conference.

Gameplay The gameplay is similar to many other 3rd person hack and slash style games. The unique mechanic introduced with this game is the option to use your right analog stick to target your enemies. The enemies you select are mapped to the square, X, and O buttons. If not all the buttons are assigned, then the extra button becomes a combo modifier button. Another feature of this game is the ability to see through the eyes of your raven which you can send to certain marked spots to scout ahead or to flip switches. You'll have the option to use three melee weapons and a bow during the game as well as your bare hands. The Mark of Kri includes a fairly easy to use bare handed combat system where you can disarm and kill enemies or sneak up on or above enemies and kill 1 or 2 at a time. Graphics Graphics are actually very good for this game, especially for a PS2 game. The environments are mostly quite nice throughout the game. With the exception of the last level, the levels are varied and maintain a nice level of detail. Character animations are smooth and remain fun to watch throughout the game due mostly to a decent variety of enemies and weapons available to you. Each level has a handful of enemies which do get repetitive, but that does not dull the effect of their design in the least. I thought I'd make a special note about the cut scenes. The cut scenes consist of hand drawings that "fill in" as the game loads or tells the story. The quality of these drawings is quite high and the artwork really appealed to me. Sound Sound is fairly decent. Music consists of the usual tribal drumming in the background, but you rarely notice the music because it is usually toned down quite a bit. Sound effects are the also run of the mill groans, grunts and weapon clashes. One problem I ran into was, during cutscenes, the voice over was almost too quiet to hear over the music and there was no option for subtitles. Overall I would recommend this game to anyone who has a desire to play a hack and slash game. One can pick this game up for a bargain price these days. Perhaps the reason I enjoyed this game so much is because I only paid $15 for it. This game consists of 6 levels that take anywhere from an hour to two hours to finish for a total of about 8 hours worth of gameplay which definitely isn't hard, but not too easy either. The Mark of Kri allows you to quickly jump into a game and complete a bit and then save. Saving consists of finding a scroll which you can use to save your location whenever you wish. Thankfully, save scrolls are often more abundant than you need for most of the levels.

Personal opinions on some games I am currently playing: PD0 (360): Good game. I wasn't really getting a good feel in the beginning, but, after the 2nd mission, I was playing much better and the game has become quite fun. The graphics and sound are great, but I did not like the controls very much to begin with. My control issue probably had something to do with playing COD2 and GRAW beforehand, but once I got used to it, I feel they are quite decent. Mark of Kri (PS2): Picked this game up a long time ago and even lent it to a friend before I even started to play it. I remember my friend saying that it was a good game, so I have finally decided to give it a try after my Viewtiful Joe debacle. Currently, I am on the 5th of 6 levels and, I must say, it is a very enjoyable game. The difficulty level is just right. Graphics are quite good for a PS2 game and the controls feel great. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who likes hack and slash games. I have seen this game for $10-$15 at EB, so it's not a huge investment for what appears to be about 6-8 hours of gameplay. Other games that I am playing off and on: Sonic Adventure (DC) Civ 4 (PC) Railroad Tycoon 3 (PC) Hexic (360)

Finished Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter for the 360 on the weekend and I wanted to pass along some thoughts. This game has been reviewed many times, so that is why this will be short and to the point (hopefully). I shall split my opinions into two categories: Single-Player and Multi-Player. This split is due to the a large degree of differences between the two game types.

Single Player

Graphics: Not a lot can be added to what has already been said about the graphics in this game. The graphics are superb and do a tremendous job at immersing you in "Mexico City". When you first start playing you will be surprised at how well detailed your character and other characters are. You'll never tire of watching your character switch weapons or reload. Once you start looking beyond the character models you'll start to see how well detailed the city is. From the smoke to the birds, to the choppers flying in the air, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how immersive the game becomes. The draw distance is impressive, which makes sniping a fun event. Helicopters, tanks, APC's, and supply trucks all look great as well. To be fair, I shall have to point out some issues with the graphics. Some of the most common graphical flaws are tearing and pop-ups. Though, by common, I don't mean to say that it happens often, but when it happens, you'll notice it. You really don't stand around long enough to notice these things and they do not detract from the gameplay at all. Another issue occurs mainly with the shadows. You'll notice it mainly when you are in a chopper or APC (because all you'll be doing is looking around). Facial shadows and interior shadows have a tendency to "move around" erratically. Again, not an issue, just thought I'd say something about it. Playing through the whole campaign, I only ran into one major graphical error. When protecting the president at the embassy at the end of the second chapter, the graphics actually disappeared and only the character models were present. This seemed to have something to do with how intense the firefight was because, once I killed off some bad guys, the issue went away. Not game stopping, but annoying. Gameplay: Initially, I only played coop with a friend, so, when I started the single player, I noticed quite a difference in control. For one, in single player, you will move slower. There is definitely a more deliberate pacing to the single player game which is a good thing. Control wise, the button layout is the usual fare with the notable exception being the squad control with the d-pad. The only difficulty that you might encounter with squad control is when you have more than one squad/unit to control. Sometimes, in the heat of battle, you can spend more time controlling a tank and your squad than keeping an eye on people shooting at you. As for the rest of the gameplay, it is fairly intuitive. The feel of each gun and how they shoot feels good. Grenade throwing is nice, with a strength meter determining how far you throw. There is also a nice wall hug/crouch feature that feels great, though, initially, can be a bit confusing when you get "stuck" to a wall. By the end of this game, you'll have perfected all the moves at your disposal. Sound: One word: Perfect. From the music that the helicopter plays whenever you get a ride to the bullets just missing your head, every sound is superb. The beginning of the game sets the stage. The game begins with you sitting in a helicopter overlooking Mexico sitting. The sound of the helicopter combined with "All Along the Watchtower" by Everlast remind you of Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now. I'll admit, that 5.1 surround sound is almost a definite must in this game. The sound programmers really worked hard to incorporate a truly surround sound experience into this game.

Multi-Player

Graphics: Graphics in the single player game are not as good as the single player game, but they are still superb. Draw distance is great and there are no frame rate problems. Split-screen coop can only be played in first person view unlike XBox Live multiplayer where you have a choice between both view points. Overall, it's hard to explain, but the graphical bells and whistles seem lesser than in the single player. This is fine because, I believe, the frame rate would have suffered in 16 player matches if the graphics were as great as the single player game. Gameplay: The pace of multiplayer is definitely quicker than single player. The pacing feels good though. For multiplayer, it's nice to be able to get into the action quickly. You can still be deliberate and belly crawl through the jungle if you wish. Another big difference is in the controls. No longer can you hug walls or peek over low cover. This feature was probably not implemented with the idea that it would make deathmatch style matches harder. Other than not being able to hug cover, there is a lean mechanism that just doesn't feel very good. To lean, you press the left bumper and then you can lean left or right. The range of the lean is not very far, so you'll rarely find yourself using this feature. Also, the lean button acts as a switch. You press it to lean and then press it again to get out of the lean action. Sound: Not much to add here to differentiate from the single player experience. No real difference.

Overall

A definite "must buy" game which is worth the price of the 360 alone. For the amount of hours of entertainment that I have got out of this game and the hours of entertainment to come, this is the definition of an excellent game.