Final Fantasy.. erm 13 anyone?

So first came a countdown timer on Square-Enix's Final Fantasy 13 website. Then the fruits of that countdown, a new trailers for number 13 in the INSANELY popular role-playing series. The recent announcement that the game will be released exclusively in December on Playstation 3 (well for japanese fans anyway) is of little comfort for fans of the series here in the UK and the west. The games western release is now pencilled in for the second quarter of 2011, yes 2011. I cant understand how a company with the resources of Square-Enix can't get localisation issues dealt with sooner. Then again many a Sony fanboy has cried "Its taking so long because then can't release the playstation 3 version in the west before the Xbox 360 versions ready!" long before now. Square-Enix have stated that work on the Xbox 360 version won't begin until the completion of the Playstation 3 version. In conclusion Square-Enix has no problem making many a gamer their bitch as unless they know Japanese its gonna be a long wait.

P.S. Keep dreaming fans I'm sure one day the FF7 remake is on the way!

Ninja Gaiden 2 - Dragon Swords and Blood LOTS!

So I've been playing quite a bit of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden 2 (Developed by Team Ninja or DOA fame) for the Xbox 360. So far as an overall product I'm impressed how we'll the game plays in comparison to the insanely hardcore Xbox original.

The gameplay has been balanced to allow a wider range of skilled and non skilled players access to a series known for its legendary brutal learning curve. As for story its a typical over the top Devil May Cry affair. The cut-scenes are entertaining for what they are (a mix of swordplay and big explosions again and again!) but the fun comes in the scope of each chapter. The controls feel fun and thats what matters in any game, a reason to keep coming back for more. I could go on for hours about every tidbit of Ninja Gaiden 2 but that would be dull lol. My advice if you see it cheap buy it and be a ninja for a night.

Microsoft's Imagine Cup 09

With trying my hand at XNA and C# I'm going to have my extra-curricular work cut out for me this year. A special project is forming between a group of four students, myself included. The Imagine cup is a competition covering various technological competencies. Each year groups of students from around the globe enter the varied competitions available. These nine competitions are...

Software Design

Embedded Development

Game Development

Robotics & Algorithm

IT Challenge

Mash Up

Photography

Short Film

Design

Our team "Rasengan" are entering the "Game Development" competition. This years theme is "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today?" The United Nations has identified some of the hardest challenges in the world today in its Millennium Goals. The aim of the competitions is to create innovative solutions to inspire change around the globe.

I feel proud to be taking a leap of faith by entering this competition.

To find out more visit.

http://imaginecup.com

Downloadable Content, a bit confusing today!

Finally I got around to downloading the new Fable 2 DLC content Knothole Island. This expansion gives players a new area of the world to explore with new quests and more.  I was a bit confused at first because two versions of the 500MB+ expansion are available to download on the 360's Marketplace. The 800 points version is the premium version and the regular version is free to download.

After waiting an hour for the free version to be download I booted up Fable 2 and was shocked at how the free version gives players a few items in the games main hub area and thats about it, I understand that effort and time goes into expansions so maybe I was naive to think the free version was Knothole Island minus the 800 points premium stuff.

Oh well, on the plus side Operation Anchorage DLC is available for Bethesta Softworks Fallout 3 today so its not all bad! The again I've heard its more Halo than Fallout :(

Start of something new... very exciting!

OK, heres the deal. I'm half way through a games design course. What have i learnt? hmm its tough to say. Yeh ok Ive done some 3D work (could have done without paying for uni). Made an unreal level (could have done without paying for uni). I'm seeing a huge problem happening. In a year and a half university is done, the course will be over and will i have employable skills? If the first year and a half are anything to go by... no way.

Someone once told me that if your job/ course isnt giving you the skills you need learn them yourself. Maybe Jesus came to me or something but the wind has changed. Community games have inspired me on xbox 360 to build my own game, put a controller in my hands and play it (seriously that gets people jobs and recognition in this industry).

I have decided to learn XNA so when it comes to the end of my course I have a game playable on my xbox 360.

Wish me luck

Game reviews suck!

Reviews are kinda stupid, don't you think? They are just one persons opinion after-all, why do people seem to forget that?  It must come down to how active and passive a gamer you are. Passive gamers will gladly swallow that 15th version of FIFA and Guitar Hero for £40 a pop, then a year later do the same EA loves you guys! An active gamer fits into the demographic of someone who seeks out those titles that get placed in the shadows by the big hitters year on year. Its the same with other media such as Film and Music.

Its a real shame when developers put in 1000's of hours into a title for someone calling themselves a journalist to call it a pile of s***. Far too many reviewers seem to have an agenda from the beginning to hate a game rather than give a balanced professional opinion as a product. Weigh up the pro's and con's in a constructive process. The rise of Video Reviews must be an answer to people who are A, too lazy to read a detailed review or B, have a wife, who children and a dog named Rex. The score seems to be all that matters now, anything less than a 7/10, don't bother with appears to be the message at Gametrailers.com (a website where a faceless voice "reviews" a game, who writes these "reviews" exactly?) and other online publications. Peoples obsession with ratings are everywhere, like men in the street saying" she that girl shes a 6, but her friends a 9, shes hot!". This needs to stop already. The majority of passive gamers are always looking for validation for that £40 they spent down at their local games store. This comes in game review scores.

We are all critics! Everyday we critique parts of our daily lives without even realizing. Gamers need to form their own opinions, buy the games that you want not what an overweight middle aged man on a website tell you to.

Ok i can see people jumping me on the street saying "we'll its just their opinion". Far too much emphasis is placed on review scores from big hitters like IGN when people are torn to buy a particular game or not. The bottom line should be "try it, see if you like it then love or hate it" above all else, make your own opinions on a game. Loads of games, tv shows and movies I've loved have got panned by the critics. 

P:S Speed Racer was an Awesome film, reviewers are so dumb! :P

Bonds, storms and rasengens!

The Naruto manga has not only spawned a popular anime series but also expanded into several video games. Two of the most recent titles are Naruto: The Broken Bond on xbox 360 and Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm on Playstation 3. The former is a sequel to 2007's Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja and the latter is a next generation HD version of the Ultimate Ninja series.

Naruto: The Broken Bond builds on Ubisoft Montreal's Naruto: Rise Of Ninja and continues Naruto and squad seven's quest after the Chunin examinations. The game plays like an action adventure game with role-playing elements. Players relive events seen in the 4th and 5th series on the anime. The story focuses on Sasuke Uchiha, and his jealously of his partner and friend Naruto Uzumaki. Players unfold the story and are introduced to characters such as Sasuke's brother Itatchi and Tsunade (the new leaf village Hokage). Fighting is handled in a revamped fighting system first seen in Rise Of A Ninja. Each character has special Justu attacks that they can pull off using directional combinations of the two analogue sticks. These Justu vary from character to character and include fan favorites like Naruto's Rasengen and Shadow Clone technique. 

Overall The Broken Bond is an excellent effort as it refines many of the problems with Rise Of A Ninja (an unfair combat system being the most obvious). Now that Ubisoft have covered all of the manga until the series takes a time jump hopefully they will pull out a Naruto Shippuden title for 2009.

Ultimate Ninja Storm was first unveiled as simply the "Naruto PS3 project". The project promised to finally blur the line between the Naruto anime and video games. The game was a sight to behold. Not only does the title developed by Cyber Connect 2 deliver in the visual department it also manages to create exciting dynamic gameplay. Look out for more on Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm as soon as I finish the game.

Singstar... more than meets the microphone

I received a copy of Singstar on Playstation 3 as a present at Christmas. At first I found myself afraid to sing into a microphone in my own living room. After a few attempts I, as a non-casual gamer found it an enlightening experience. The interface was clean and easy to navigate. The online functions include a store allowing gamers to download additional songs for 99p each. Overall I'm enjoying singing with my Playstation as a way of letting of steam.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to let themselves go.

Just some of my university 3D work

Just some 3D renders of a canal bridge i built in Autodesk 3D Studio Max. The bridge is a static mesh that can easily be imported to a game engine such as Unreal.

Sonic Bashing

As someone who wants a career in the games industry I'm the first to defend a developer. After spending quite a few hours with the xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed I felt that Sonic Team deserves more credit than it got upon release. The first few tastes of Sonic Unleashed given to the gaming community in videos and screens showed a return to form for Sonic. The upset for the press came when Sega showed the nighttime levels of the game complete with a transformed Were-hog Sonic. Alarm bells rang as Sega on form have in many peoples eyes forgotten the core gameplay that makes a Sonic game fun, fast paced running through exciting dynamic environments. Upon the game release last year many critics panned the title. The overall consensus established was that while the pure Sonic running and jumping levels worked the nighttime levels ended up just plain rubbish. The Were-hog levels included fighting enemies over and over again and compared to the daytime lacked any sense of speed or fun.

In the defense of Sonic Team as a designer I understand why they have to include all the nighttime stuff to make the game 10 hours rather than 3. The problem for Sonic Team is audience expectation. 3 hour games do not cut it these days. The first Sonic and Mario titles could be completed in less than an hour and no one complained paying £40+ for them. Sonic Unleashed is a fantastic step forward for the series because the Sonic speed daytime stages are exactly how a 3D Sonic game should be.

Nintendo and the pirates

The focus of this post is a look at how piracy is growing day by day on Nintendo's two current systems. Both the DS and Wii became a platform for Homebrew at first but moved into something far more illegal, running current and old copyrighted games!

First the Nintendo DS has been swarmed with piracy as various unnamed companies continue to make cards that allow rom files to run game downloaded online. While I cannot talk about which websites and cards allow this just searching  on google opens up endless possibilities for DS owners. Even in the current economic climate most first party Nintendo DS games come in between £20/ 30 in the UK. This price compared to our US and Japanese counterparts could attribute to the rise of illegal gaming on DS here. The Wii has also become the victim of Piracy which can even be achieved without the traditional void console warranty mod-chip. Nintendo has countered the homebrew community on the Wii with system updates that can even remove installed homebrew!

 The question of does this obvious minority whom use these illegal methods effect the industry as a whole?

Well for nintendo I doubt it, the DS and Wii continue to sell through the roof across the entire world. Each months NPD numbers for Wii and DS sales still manage to impress compared to Microsoft and Sony's figures. I can only assume that people familiarity with Gamecube architecture attributed to the Wii piracy issue. The DS like the Game Boy Advance before it shows no sign of stopping illegal activities. Recently the DSi (A new incarnation of the DS) was hacked to run a homebrew, the first step to game piracy.

Welcome to Shoryureppa!

Before Shoryureppa I had a blog named Treasure Trove Cove. That blog ran for a few months but lacked any real direction. Shoryu Reppa (a special move of Ken's in the Street Fighter series) will focus primarily as my opinion on gaming news, offering a more in depth look at the Industry that a traditional video game news site.

I hope anyone who comes across this blog finds it an interesting read.