Team Fortress 2 Costumes Get Pretty Damn Real

Fellow Blogger over at The Cauldron of Doom posted some pictures of some TF2 costumes that him and his buddy have been working on. The costume themselves are nothing short of amazing and pretty spot on. But also big props to Alex Tkatcheva who is credited as the photographer, he did and amazing job capturing these pictures and giving them that extra awesomeness. You can check out the rest of those pictures here

Gold Spamming Reaches New Heights

Most players have seen gold spammers that not only private message you in WoW offering gold but even mass corpse kill themselves to spell out a website where they sell gold. But now they got avatars stuck in mid-air to promote their websites. As much as it's funny to see it the first time I bet people will get tired of seeing them hanging out around major cities. Let's hope Blizzard has a long term solution for this new spam attack.

Left 4 Dead 2 Fails The Best Buy Ad

Left 4 Dead 2 Comes out on the 17th. This picture in the best buy flyers shows not only the wrong characters but the wrong characters aren't even the good ones from the actual game. The four people you see there are from the first Left 4 Dead, right but look at Francis. Why does Francis have a #@&!@ Faux Hawk?

We're Back!

To square one....... So after about a year of lazyness and just being busy thanks to school I'm dusting off this site, powering it on and hope I don't get a RRoD. First official post will be happening sometime later today.

Comic//Bryan VS Craig: Round 2! - What has yet to come!

Comic// Blueaxe Technology

Click on Image for bigger version

Games// Hot Deals that everyone should know about!

This is going to be a new regular post that you can expect every month featuring the hottest gaming deals available to us Canadians!

Xbox 360/Ps3 deals

• Battlefield: Bad Company $19.99, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 $9.99, End War $29.99, Assassins Creed $14.99 at Blockbuster

• Singstar Ps3 bundle $19.99 at EBgames
  

Wii Deals

• Wii Mario games $29.99 at Walmart(Regular price $49.99)

WTF?! News// Guess who's baaack!?

Ah ho he ha ha ha ! ! !

Yes, thats right! The infamous writer known as Craig Clark is coming back to write up a storm. Craig apologizes for his leave of absence but someone's got to put out the forest fires, deliver purified water to poor homeless waste-landers, and build home's for sackboys/sackgirls right?

So what is the C man bringing back from his travels you say?

Well...

Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Sonic Unleashed Review's

Critique of this years holiday sales.

Predictions of what to expect from 2009 in gaming.

and of course the mindless jibber jabber that is sure to entertain those eccentric folks!

also local bands that you should check out! 

Comic// Best Friends

Click on the image for full screen

I was still here. You're all Just crazy.

So, I blame School + Work + Normal Things that keep people Human for my MIA status.. and since my university went on strike back on Nov 6th, I decided:

Hey! Time to catch up on all that school work you should have been doing instead of sleeping!

Which actually meant:

Play as much Portal, Gears of War 2 and LittleBigPlanet as you can.

Now apparently their in negotiations and the strike might be coming to an end. Meaning Natalie is Officially Screwed.

But I STILL have the cutest sackboy EVER.

PICTURES TO COME!!

Games// What The !@$& Has Bryan Been Up To?

Wrath of the lich king was released not too long ago, and ended up being a day one purchase. So between playing this and Far Cry 2 and having aquired Fallout 3, my gaming time is pretty full right now to effectively play any of these 3 games for more than 2-3 hours.

Also after having enjoyed the 5 day demo of Left 4 Dead on STEAM I cannot wait to get my hands on this sick co-op experience. It's been awhile since a really good multiplayer game has come out for the PC. the last one I can think of was Team Fortress 2 which incidentaly was also made by Valve, maybe I'm a fanboy I don't know but these games are just tuned so well for a mouse and keyboard it seems to be a skill that not many developers nowadays seem to competently grasp.

Far Cry 2 turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Heres a game that has absolutely nothing to do with the original Far Cry on PC, or the bastardized spin offs on consoles. Yet its refreshingly new and builds on mechanics that have been succesful in 3rd person view rather than first. The most refreshing thing about this game was that you don't have to shoot at any more @$#(&@ mutants. I really hate mutantss and aliens but that's a blog for another time.

I recently booted up Fallout 3 on the PC and haven't gotten too far but so far I'm enjoying the game. The V.A.T.S. system is pretty basic from the orginal first two fallout titles and it's best played using it because any real-time shooting is atrocious in the engine that was built for the Oblivion game. The game does seem to show some pretty annoying flaws due to it's transition to a multiplatform game rather then a PC exclusive. I might write about this game more in the future but for the moment V.A.T.S. is pretty fun in 3D form.

Wrath of the Lich King made me venture into the much awaited continent of Northrend. All in all it did not end up dissapointing. With 2 different regions to begin leveling up for newly level 70s. They also did a pretty good job of not keeping you in one area for too long, one of my biggest annoyances with Burning Crusade was that the first area was all the same it looked just like the previous region I had spent leveling. It's pretty boring when a brand new area is looks all dead orange. So thankfully Wrath of the Lich King takes us from a sandy beach area to a foggy beach area to a burning farm to a village built on Ice, then to some old ruins and then inside a mountainous area full of snow. And all of this before I got to level 71 (I was level 68). So again all in all I'm looking forward to going into my first 5 man dungeon and seeing what else this expansion brings.

Left 4 Dead I'm impatiently awaiting my copy of this game. Zombie killing is fun but fast zombie killing with 4 other human players is a blast. Seeing a mass horde of zombies climbing a fence as you and 3 people go "Oh! Sh*T!" and a zombie boss coming out of nowhere to grab one of your friends by the neck and dragging him away while facing a mass of zombies sure gets the heart rate going. I only played the demo which consisted of 2 levels but I played the hell out of those 2 levels over and over again and I can't wait until I get my hands on a retail copy.

I'l try to be more frequent with my posts but at this moment I can't promise anything.
Until then, Happy Gaming!

-Bryan, Over and Out.


"Oh SH*T!"

OmWtf?! News// Katy Perry gets her own doll?

My my, what is going on with the world. Its bad enough that Barbie is basically a slut. Now they are releasing a doll based on Katy Perry who quite recently had the hit single "I kissed a Girl", that will encourage young girls to kiss each other. Not that I'm complaining, but I will be complaining! When Im 50 and have kid's of my own.

Game// Street Fighter IV Cover-Art: Crap!

Well thats my opinion. Good year for games. Bad year for their covers.

Examples below:

Spider-man: Web of Shadows

Sonic Unleashed

...and the list goes on.

Game// LittleBigPlanet Vinn En Beta-Nyckel!

Translation Please. LittleBigPlanet Beta-Key!

Now I'm not sure if this is going to work for me, but it is sure worth a try! Europa site gamesreactor.net is giving away 300 LittleBigPlanet Beta-keys for signing up to their site, and answering 3 questions regarding LittleBigPlanet. Once signed up, head on over to this link to get your beta-key!

Ahh but not so fast, the questions are in swedish. Here are those questions translated for you sackboys/girls!

What is the name of the developers behind Little Big Planet?
Media Molecule
Media Monster
Monster Molecule

As the game goes on?
Jump, run and build things
Shoot, fly and eat ice cream
Knyppla, crochet and burning up expensive scarves

Who is most like a sackboy on Gamereactor?
Jonas Säcky
Jonas Mirko Cro-cop
Jonas Mäki

If you don't know the answer's you don't deserve the Beta!! But here they are anyway 1,1,3... :) Good luck!

http://www.gamereactor.se/tavling/331/Vinn+beta-nyckel+till+Little+Big+Planet/?sid=8e0e318ff4d20bf898b23c50e4dd3a9f

Games// Ergh... Argh... Halo 3 again... Ergh

So you know that countdown Bungie had at E3 earlier this year? Well... It came back a few days ago, and guess what it was counting down? Yup! You guessed it! A new Halo game. Well an expansion rather. The teaser shows us a futuristic city getting plummeted by meteor shower of spaceships and an explosion to top it off. At the end of the video you see a bunch of warning signs, then a logo for ...dun dun dun Halo 3! Yes, I'm not shitting you. Another Halo 3. Apparently the trailer is called Halo 3 keep it clean. Is this an expansion or a whole new game? Only time will tell.

Heres the link - http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=15574

Games// You Has A Motorbike In My World Of Warcraft???

A bike in WoW you say? Damn that's pretty insane. I can't see how these are gonna fit in the lore of the game but still, I find this pretty cool. Engineers will be building bikes come the new expansion. Sure they might be hard to get and all but from what I hear they will have a sidecar where you can carry a buddy along with you. Kinda sick eh? Of course just like anything in life, you hear the complaining. "Bikes just don't belong in WoW" people say. You know what I say? It's a *@#&$ fantasy game! Keywords here are game and fantasy. Just get a hog and ride into the sunset.

Games// World of Warcraft + Bejeweled = Twice The Addiction

The Wired Blog posted up a story about a gamer who had made a mod to make his time spent waiting for raids or for mobs to spawn less boring. This game was more of a Bejeweled clone so once Pop-Cap developers heard about it they decided to hire him to make a more official version for the MMO. It's being released this thursday so look out for it.

Read the Wired Blog

Games// Crysis Warhead; Change My Settings To What?

Thats it. EA has completly lost it. What do you say about a developer like Crysis and a publisher like EA when changing your graphic settings has been changed from the norm? (Low, Medium, High, Maximum) Rock, Paper, Shotgun first posted about this insanity that is in newly released PC game Crysis Warhead. You get to choose from Minimum, Mainstream, Gamer and Enthusiast. What the hell does that mean? If I choose Minimum I'm not a gamer? If I chose Gamer does that mean I don't play mainstream titles? And Holy *#%& what the *#% does choosing Enthusiast mean? EA might have been trying something different but this is totally not the way to go about doing that.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Game Preview// 1Up Gives the Goods on Mirror's Edge All Week Long

1Up.com is running another of their 1Up Spotlights and this time they are gonna be telling us about Mirror's Edge.
Day one begins with 10 things you don't (or might not have known) about the game.

From ingame cutscenes, between level cut scenes, button customization, DLC, Trophies and Time Trials.
So check out their website all week long.

1Up Spotlight Mirror's Edge

Games// Grand Theft Auto IV (PC): Exclusive To Games for Windows Live.

This is some pretty bad news in my opinion, the only thing worse than having a PC game carry the Games for Windows Live logo is when the multiplayer is gimped by the crappy service that is GFWL. This also means that most likely no STEAM version either.

Just when I thought we were gonna get a better version of GTA. All they need to do now is announce that the game will not support a mouse & keyboard and will only be playable with a gamepad. Yeah, that would be the final kick in the groin.

News// IGN.com gets an overhaul!

Ooooo, Ahhhhhhh

Just surfing the net during my Math class lead by a teacher with probably the worst accent I have heard yet this semester; I find that my beloved IGN.com has changed its layout. It kind of reminds me of that Bomb gaming site(too busy right now to look it up :P), and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Its clearly made for quicker accessibility. If you have the chance go check out the new IGN, its really rad!

Games// GTA: Chinatown Wars - First Look Screens

Grand Theft Auto was announced at E3 this year in the Nintendo keynote, and was mostly tossed aside by everyone as a "casual" GTA. After seeing some of these newly released screens though, I must say that my hype level for it has certainly increased. 

Cell shaded graphics with an isometric view very reminiscent of the original GTA and GTA II. Looking at the bottom screen of the DS they seem to be working on how to use the touch screen to hot-wire cars or interact with objects in a first person view mode, like toss aside weapons in garbage cars it seems. Well whatever ends up happening with this game, I will certainly give it a try whenever it comes out.

Games & Music// Metallica's New Record Is A Sonic Disaster.

Holy shit Batman, no this has nothing to do with Sonic. I was so surprised to hear that the new album from Metallica sounded bad. Seeing as how great their last album was. End Sarcasm// The real surprise was hearing that the Guitar Hero version of the latest album Death Magnetic actually had better sound, from a mastering point of view of course. Nothing can be done to actually help the band with their song scripting which has taken a plunge ever since St. Anger was conceived. 

Understandably, fans are pretty upset with the quality of the mastering but sometimes these things happen. Maybe they were just more focused on getting the Guitar Hero version right? Check out Mastering Media Blog for full details.


Metallica "Death Magnetic" Clipping Distortion [Mastering Media Blog]

Game News// New Metal Gear Solid Game in Existence?

Like the Metal Solid Gear games before it, it looks like Metal Gear Solid 4 will be getting an extended edition as well. Kotaku is reporting that the name Metal Gear Solid Existence has popped up on Japanese Trademark database Siliconera. Of course this doesn't necessarily mean that its an extended version of MGS4. It could very well be a new PSP game, or another digital graphic novel. But it is more than likely the extended edition. I mean come on! Substance, Subsistence.. Existence. Yup. Seems about right.

Metal Gear Solid Existence

Game News// Peter Moore Responsible for Dreamcast's Demise...

I knew you were evil Peter, but I didn't think you were this evil. In an interview with guardian.co.uk, Peter Moore has recently revealed the reason for killing the Dreamcast back in 2001. It seems it was either DO or DIE back then, here is what he had to say:

"We had a tremendous 18 months. Dreamcast was on fire – we really thought that we could do it. But then we had a target from Japan that said – and I can't remember the exact figures – but we had to make N hundreds of millions of dollars by the holiday season and shift N millions of units of hardware, otherwise we just couldn't sustain the business.

So on January 31 2001 we said Sega is leaving hardware – somehow I got to make that call, not the Japanese. I had to fire a lot of people, it was not a pleasant day."

Well... here's what I have to say about that. It was a ripple effect that killed the Dreamcast Mr. self absorbed Moore.

1. Lack of advertising.

2. Only advertising Sega brand games. Many people don't know that Resident Evil: Code Veronica(arguably best in the series) first appeared on the Sega Dreamcast.

3. YOU SUCK! - Sorry, but to me. You gave up. I know if Miyamoto ran Sega, he would put his own Salary into supporting the Dreamcast, or try some other tactic. What I am trying to say here is, you lost your sack Sir. You lost your sack.

4. Windows CE ehh?? You had plans from the beginning to leave Sega for Microsoft. Didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?!?

5. The people. People were afraid to try new things back then. Too bad Sega Dreamcast didn't have a gimmick like the Wii to keep it a float.(I love the Wii don't get me wrong. There are some games that utilize the Wiimote to full extent, then there's the other 80%.)

Well it is over and done with now I suppose... but don't take this personally Mr. Moore. I hate you.


Peter Moore Interview - You can read the whole interview here.

Game News// Capcom says no more exclusives!

First the delightly remake(s) of Street Fighter/Bionic Commando for PSN/XBL, and the soon to be released MEGA MAN 9, now this! Capcom has recently announced that no more of their major games coming out in 2009 and beyond will be exclusive. Could this mean a version of Resident Evil 5 for Wii? That's doubtful, but still a possibilty.

Ahhh, Capcom. Why are you always the ones who do it right first?

Music Review// Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Have Another Ball:

Cover Band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes; a band that plays oldies with a heavy distortion rock twist, have released their latest record. Not much has changed from previous works, and that could be either good or bad depending on where you stand when it comes to rock music, but they still have a few shiners in this one that rise above the rest. 

Opening Song Rich Girl starts up the record with a catchy and fast pace song originally written and performed by Hall and Oates back in the late 70's. Some of the slower songs unfortunately bring the pace to a somewhat boring level and even tend to drag on for a bit longer than they should but overall the track-list is good, with a new flavor on what will be familiar songs to some people.

Game Preview//Tales of Vesperia

With only a day away from the North American release, the anticipation is starting to get to me. It's not like I'm afraid of not getting a copy since my pre-order took care of that problem. It's the fact that I will be experiencing a much adored series' debut title on a next gen system. The painfully obvious question I keep asking myself is "is this upgraded Tales game or just another next gen game that tries too hard." I can't believe I said it either, call me cynical or whatever else you like I'm still not too fond of the whole next-gen thing. Yes graphics, resolutions, physics and multiplayer are important but if a game relies solely on candy for the senses then where else does your 60 or 70 dollars end up going to? A short lived story, shallow characters you don't care about, a dismissible musical score, and a new game play gimmick. What's worse is that you’re also generating sales and incentive for more companies to publish more generic titles.

If I know my Tales games well enough then at least I can hope to expect a diverse cast of characters [and a pipe-smoking dog] several memorable melodies, some form of real time combat that seems to be upgraded every title, and a story that will still want me to coming back just to find out what happens next for 60 or so hours. Not to mention the obvious - it's on a next gen consoles so it'll look really nice.

Unfortunately there is no way of telling what to expect until game play starts but if it follows the same "Tales" formula that's been keeping me coming back to play each new title then I know I won't be disappointed.

Comics// The Amazing Spider-Man #568

For anyone familiar with the Spider-man of the past few months, you'll know how rocky it's been going for fiction character Peter Parker. With the end of Peter's marriage and the Brand New Day arc, Spider-man has been turned into the one dimensional character he was when he first started back in the 60's. Meaning all he does is meet new random villains where they get into some kind of non epic final fight that lasts for about 2 issues each, rinse and repeat. With little attention paid to character growth or to what now seems to be an alternate reality where he never marries Mary Jane.

Now that the whole Brand New Day arc is over and they are moving on to New Ways to Die, it looks to be a bit more promising, of course anything does if you are gonna re-introduce venom. The first issue in the arc as much promise as it shows it just still seems to fall flat compared to the writing of Straczynski. Retconning (which means to bring things back to and earlier time, or erase things that happened in the past to be able to tell a new story) is probably one of the worst things you can do to a character that has grown so much over the years and to many readers who have invested time and money. 

Yes, they wanted to bring back Spider-man to it's glory days, but the audience has changed from the 60's the medium has changed and culture as well. Now we are just left with a Spider-man song stuck on repeat.

Game Review// Wii Fit

According to my Wii, this is my 65th day playing Wii Fit. Mind you, in total I've only racked up about 8 hrs of playing but don't take that as a negative view of the game or anything, it's just been a busy month. Wii Fit actually has lots of potential to be a very helpful tool for people of any age, any size and any gaming background :)

The game starts by letting you create your own personal profile, using your Mii as a basic avatar. Up to 8 profiles can be created per game, so even if you have a house full of people who are all charging to play Wii Fit, the game has got you covered. An animated version of the balance board acts as your guide through the wonderful-fantabulous world of Wii Fit, which gives it plenty of leeway to make lame jokes about you having to stand on it all the time. At least it's courteous though since I have yet to hear any fat jokes. Anyways, when you choose your Mii, the BB (Balance Board) explains a bit about balance and posture and why all that jazz is important to health and whatnot. After that, it's time to take your very first Body Test! The game is pretty much based around these "Body Tests" encouraging you to take them daily, even if you don't have a chance to train. They're fairly quick/easy things to do, so if you're willing to put the effort into the game then keeping them up regularly is not an entirely unreasonable request. After receiving your test results, the BB will ask you to set a goal for yourself. All the things that the test measures (BMI, weight, Wii Fit Age) and your goals are monitored in a neat little graph format, that are really helpful in terms of checking out your progress.

As for the training, it's split up into 4 different categories: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games. Each category begins with only one or two selections, but unlocks more as you continuously train with the game. By no means are any of these categories intensive training programs, but instead act as an introduction to different forms of keeping in shape. Yoga focuses on posture and balance and will introduce the player to some basic stances such as the half moon pose, the more advance dance pose and the traditional tree pose. If muscle is your thing, Strength training demonstrates exercises such as the push up/side plank, jackknife, and torso twists. Aerobics is great for cardio lovers, and ranges its activities from step aerobics, to jogging, to even rhythm boxing. Finally, the balance games are exactly what they say they are. Games that attempt to make working on your balance fun. You can avoid getting hit in the head with a soccer cleat, walk a tightrope, or even roll around in an imaginary bubble.

With all it's greatness and popularity, the game does have it's flaws. For example, it's pretty easy to shake the wiimote around and pretend you're jogging. Though personally I'd rather jog outside, instead of on the spot and chasing an animated dog with a wiimote in my pocket. Also, you can't really take the accuracy of the test/exercises it does on you seriously unless you actually try doing them PROPERLY, considering it's really easy to cheat (by holding on to a chair, or sitting down as you play, etcetera, etcetera). It's in no way intended to be a serious weight loss program, but rather a fun and quick way to keep active, and move away from the 'couch potato' gaming position we all know and love.

So other than that, and it's creepy attempts at trying to be human by asking you about the progress of other Mii's that have joined, or switching up your trainers every once in a while because yours seems to be busy with plans (animated trainers have hot dates too, clearly), I think it's worth a try. Even if you totally hate it, looking like an idiot hula hooping with an imaginary hoop will at least be worth a laugh or two.

Game// Christmas will be very very merry this year for Banjo fans!!

My day has been great so far. First I found $10 on the ground, then I sprang my ankle... wait that wasn't so good. O_o ...Well I can't even feel the pain anymore because of this spectacular news! Microsoft have announced today that if you preorder Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts you will receive Banjo Kazooie(The original N64 version) for XBLA two weeks prior to the initial release date on XBLA! Oh wait! but thats not all! Nuts and Bolts will retail for the suggested price of $39.99! Dare I say, maybe its a good thing Bill Gates left...

Game Review//Eternal Sonata

Here's a review I wrote a little while back. Just me trying to add a little bit of yesterday to today.

For those of us who don't believe that Halo is the One and Only and have waited ages for an enjoyable, quality JRPG experience for a next-gen system; hath no fear because all of your prayers have been answered within something called Eternal Sonata – a healthy dose of de-ja-vu courteously brought to us by the fellows at Namco Bandai and Tri-Crescendo.

The game world is alive with beautifully colored landscapes, the characters themselves feel like they are part of their environments meticulously placed somewhere between 2d sprites and full on 3d bodies – an effect similarly seen in such games as Tales of Symphonia or Okami but made even more glorious with the wonders of HD resolution.What really takes the player for a unique experience is perhaps the story. It starts off innocently enough, with a young girl wanting to leave her village to better understand her illness and to seek an audience with the Count, she then meets a mysterious gentleman by the name of Frederic and they both set off on an epic adventure full of very likeable characters and some moving emotional moments. While there are the shades of a “lets rebel against an evil figure of power” storyline the player is then taken behind the scenes and shown that everything is the dream world of a dying composer – a real life figure of classical music. Frederic Chopin. The story then goes back and forth between the “dream world” and what happens in the “real world” whilst Mr. Chopin is clinging to his last dear moments of life. There are 7 chapters to play through and each one unlocks a sort of “life and times” montage of the composer told through real life photographs and accompanying music of Chopin's most famous works – definitely not typical JRPG material.

What moved me to call this game a “dose of de-ja-vu” is the fact that I can't help but notice the similarities between it and another game called Baten Kaitos and/or Origins. The music most certainly sounds familiar, which is fantastic since I very much enjoyed the score of both BK titles, while the battle mechanics feel like a fusion of any of the past two BKs and a Tales game. You can still pick and chose your fights as enemies appear onscreen instead of random encounters but the battles themselves can be oddly fun and challenging at the same time. There is a certain amount of time [several seconds] that is allotted to each of your characters as well as enemies [think BK] during which you must run up to an enemy and mash the attack buttons. [think Tales] What adds a twist to your typical formula is that you are allowed to assign a “Light” and “Dark” attack to the Special Attack button which you can perform depending on where your character is standing – in a lit area of ground or in a shadow. Normal attacks build up something called an Echo Gauge and if one character performs a Special while it is at it's maximum then the effectiveness [or damage] is greatly increased. Monsters change sizes and shape in light or shade. Lastly, your primary source of income will be from taking photos of these critters. [back to BK]

This leaves us with a phenomenal piece of gaming that will probably be overlooked by die-hard Halo fanatics but if you are a gamer who has needed a healthy serving of next-gen JRPG goodness, then you owe it to yourself to experience this Eternal Sonata.

A DEFINITE BUY for 360 J-gamers and a DEFINATE RENT for any RPG fan who wants to try something new.

News// Bigfoot Update

This is so stupid. So the press conference turned out to be more of a "please believe us when we say we go bigfoot wahh, wahhh, wahh. We just happened to have shipped the body out for "scientific" research but hey look at these pictures for now!" So basically? As for new info, we got shit. I still call bullshit on these guys and if this is all a big hoax. They should be prosecuted for wasting everyones time. Wouldn't that be awesome eh? Sue someone for making shit up that wastes your time? If that were the case I could sue World of Warcraft, Facebook, Video Games and the Harry Potter Franchise for making a whole generation waste their time on made up bigfootshit.

Tech// Portable Laptop Mouse Made Easy

I found this to be pretty cool, the Logitech V550 cordless laser mouse. Do you hate using those stupid damn trackstubs on your keyboard? Is the trackpad just totally annoying and an unprecise way to play World of Warcraft or Counter Strike while you're suppose to be paying attention in class? Alright well I know some people who just hate carrying around a laptop mouse with those damn wires sticking out of it. So here's a mouse I found that actually has a little docking station that attaches to anywhere you stick it on your laptop and you just sit your mouse there when you're on the move. Pretty straightforward eh, And the USB is one of the smallest connector I have seen, as you can see on the picture, so it's not sticking out like a sore thumb and has less of a risk of snapping in half while going to your next destination.

Logitech V550 cordless laser mouse is about 60$ And you can get it on www.amazon.com

The Official Logitech Product Site

News// Bigfoot Is Found. And Dead?

Okay so I gotta call bullshit on this. Apparently some dudes found the remains of the elusive 7 foot tall hair thing called Bigfoot. And tomorrow there will be some kind of official press release with DNA confirmation and blah blah blah. So for now here is a link to the website with the disturbing picture of a dead creature and We'll follow this story up tomorrow (Friday) with what will probably end up being a bunch of bull.

Here's the link Bigfoot Dead

Games// Cant afford that new game you want? Here are some alternative ways to get it!

No I don't mean steal them! I mean the stores that usually have good deals, websites that allow you to swap with other gamers, or bid agaisnt them. Here are some ways you can get that new release without paying full price!

Trade In

There are many stores you can do trade ins. I find the best to be Blockbuster and Ebgames. Often they both will put a trade in such as, trade 4/3 next gen titles(360, Ps3, Wii) and get a brand new release for free. Ah but there is a catch! These games must be worth $14 or more. Thinking of trading Chromehounds, Perfect Dark Zero, and Sonic the Hedgehog for Halo 3? Not happening. Those titles are only worth about $7! Also you can just trade in your games for store credit. You wont be getting much in comparison to what you initially paid. I personally suggest selling them on Craigslist or Kijiji for $15 or so, but you will often get replies from some jackal who knows how much they are worth in Ebgames database, so he will offer 20% less!

ebay.com

Ahhh good old ebay. Ebay is the best when you are looking for an older gem or even not so old. I landed Dark Sector on ebay for $8.50 cdn. If you want that new release you will probably just be paying just as much or more than the retail price. For example the going price for Soul Calibur 4: LE? The bidding starts at $170. Be sure to buy from a seller with a high rating though, because if something is wrong with the game they will often replace it, or reimburse you because they will want to keep their good rep. You can use your paypal account to pay for most items.

craigslist.com, kijiji.ca

Craigslist is a great way to find your find your game and not wait for it to be shipped. You will find some games brand new with 30% of the price tag, people who got into the hype for a game and just didn't like it will sell it cheap or trade it for something older they will like. If you use Craigslist or Kijiji.ca be sure to meet the seller at a public location. It doesnt happen often, but you could meet someone who is just looking to steal from you. Also avoid buying selling from people who aren't local. Don't get tempted into that $300 Brand new $80 gig Ps3. If its too good to be true. It isnt.

tradegamesnow.com, gtz.com

Tradegamesnow/gtz are both trading communities strictly for people who want to trade anything that is games/movies/books. How it works -- you list the games you have/want. Then you can either browse by members location or by the games you want/have, or there is a quick match option that will automatically match you with people that want your games/have the games want. Once you find someone that you want to trade with. You make an offer you can do a game for game/game for 2 game's/game for game + $$, choose the method you will likely ship(Standard/expedited etc.) Confirm the offer, then wait. If the offer is accepted it is expected that the person with the lower rating ships first. These sites both have a rating system in place just like ebay. Avoid buying/selling from people with a low rating. Often there are some jerks who get there friends to sign up and give them fake ratings. So just avoid the people with a rating of 9 or lower. You know' because these jerks wont have more than 9 friends anyway. :P

sayswap.com

This is an interesting little site I have come across. Its free to join, but you will need to pay a fee to be able to list the games you have/request. You can either do the gtz/tradegamesnow method; game for game, game for game + $$ etc... or there is a point system in place. Games are worth a certain amount of points. For example you have Uncharted which is worth 40 points. If someone requests it -- you ship it out and in turn you get 40 points that you can use to request another game that is worth 40 points or less. Or there is another option to buy points which there isn't much point in doing because it would be just like buying retail. There is also a rating system like ebay's.

redflagdeals.com

There are forums at RedFlagDeals.com that work like craigslist/kijiji but they aren't as effective I find. Although if you are lucky enough to see that the person is online at the time, you can PM them and you can get a quick answer. People are also kind enough to post deals they find scattered around the internet such the Blockbuster/Ebgames deal or BestBuy' s pay $70 get Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Assassin's Creed they had last year.

STEAM

I was just introduced to STEAM by my good friend Bryan, and I have got to say the prices are not that bad. If you are into PC games(I'm slowly but surely getting there.) you will love this little program Valve have conjured up.

Movies// Jake Gyllenhaal's Leaked Prince of Persia Movie Picture.

Okay so this is really just an excuse to post a picture of favourite (not really) actor Jake with no shirt on(Really I dont care). No but seriously this picture was leaked a few days ago and shows us what Gyllenhaal  looks like as the Prince of Persia.

 

Obviously he wouldn't have been my first choice for this movie, to me it just seems like it was more of a "stick a popular name to this movie and cash in on the actor's name". But it seems like Gyllenhaal  does fit the part somewhat, he just really needs a tan, really badly, I mean this is Prince of Persia Not Ghost of Persia or whatever.

News// New Editor @ Binary Crashes

I would like to take this moment to welcome Tim to the gang. He showed interest in writing for our blog and Craig and myself were impressed with the review he sent us and hopefully he decides to post it up. Also remember that if anyone is interested in writing for our blog we'd be happy to consider you for a spot on our editorial team. 

You can contact me at bryan@binarycrashes.com and send a review of a movie, game or album. 

Great to have you onboard Tim and I look forward to working with you.

Movies// Venom: Should Topher Grace Come Back?

Okay so, Venom is a character in the Marvel comics, to be more precise it's a symbiote that attaches itself to a host to create what you see to your left.  A Venom movie is currently in the works as a spin off to the spider-man movie franchise they got going. 

As some of you guys may have seen from Spider-man 3, Topher Grace was cast to play the popular Venom character. But for the spin-off there's talk that Grace just isn't a big star name that can attract the kind of audience that Sony Pictures is hoping to bring in.

 Now I know that a lot of fans of the everything Spider-man club had complaints about the third movie and with Grace as Venom. But in my personal opinion Grace wasn't really the problem with this movie, it was really more script problems than casting. The thing is that rather then spending time developing the Venom character for people who aren't familiar with him, they instead spent a big chunk over the whole Peter, Gwen and MJ love triangle. Which included that embarrassingly horrible dance scene with what I can only assume was an "emo" Peter Parker to appeal to the emo scene.

So I ask you guys for your opnions. Do you think Topher Grace should be re-cast as Venom for the upcoming spin off or should they just get someone else and if so then who else and why?

Comics//WANTED: It's All The Movie Wanted To Be.

It's not often that we are graced with a piece of graphic literature that doesn't make your palms hit your head of embarrassment over the contents of said graphic novel. As it's become increasingly popular to want to cash in on a good hit comic, like say the Movie 300 has done, or the Dark Knight, The Hulk, Spider-man and so on. Although the movie left fans disappointed its good to know that the comic is still there, now compiled into a graphic novel for 19.99 it's a damn good buy indeed.

The story here is quite amusing actually, as soon as I heard the first line being read out by my girlfriend at the store I chuckled and decided to pick it up. The story begins with a young guy called Wesley, he's somewhere in his early 20s and life is pretty shit for him. He works at a boring office job with a bitch of a boss. His best friend is banging his girlfriend behind his back and Wes is too spineless to confront them about it. So life goes on until one day at his usual sandwich stop, a woman comes up to him and says that this is his lucky day and to come with her. He hesitates and the girl loses her cool and shoots everyone in the store and asks Wes one last to come with her. On their way to their destination she lets him know that her old man is dead and that he was the greatest assassin the world had ever known.

In a world where superheroes no longer exist, earth is ruled by super villains who decided to team up and once and for all destroy the heroes and protectors of the world. Wes was the lucky bastard who was about to inherit all the money his father - the greatest assassin there ever was - had made over his career. And so Wesley embarks on a mission to become the next great killer and leave his spineless gutless old self behind, because thats all his father ever wanted.

With one of the most surprising and disturbing ending I have ever seen, this book will leave you feeling like you just read one hell of a story. Most likely unlike any you have ever read of before or will again for a long time. Until the day that someone has the balls to write something like this again, go enjoy WANTED, and do yourself a favor and skip the movie.

PC Games// Runescape Gets A Makeover!

Ahh, Runescape. The only online game that us 56ker's could actually play back in the day. You were incredibly deep, had a ton of features, and you could be oh so addicting at times...but you were also so damn ugly! Despite its poor graphics. Runescape has established a user base of 130 million, and this number is surely to double with the news I'm about to bring.

Finally after almost a decade of waiting Jagex has decided to give their free Java based MMORPG a graphical makeover, and fix some of the annoying issues that hindered the experience. They have been working on the upgrade for over a year now. Could Jagex be looking to compete with the power house that is World of Warcraft? or are they just giving a reward to their fans for playing so long? ...or are were they, themselves just sick of looking at the graphics? All I know is that this is good news all around for fans of this old MMORPG.

  

A side-by-side comparison of an old and new human chat head.

Games// Diablo III

Mmmmm.

After several tries of attempting to get into the enchanting yet addictive World Of Warcraft, the fact that you have to pay 15 bucks a month for it usually ended up steering me away. Fortunately, I was always fond of Blizzard's former hack and slash role playing game since I had pretty much grown up with it. Every couple of months I'll end up on an LoD binge attempting to re-create my characters (thanks to the fact that Blizzard has a tendency to delete characters that are inactive for 90 days..) and trying to get as many people as I can hooked on to playing along with me. Recently I've been on one of those binges and as my Lvl 36 ice sorc is going through nightmare, I'm totally in anticipation for Blizzard's new project.

Yes they've finally answered all those loyal Diablo fans prayers by taking an awesome thing, and making it even better. So far it seems like there is nothing but improvement to expect from D3, and the gameplay vid is pretty frikkin cool looking, so I recommend you check that out if you get a chance. So far, they've only introduced the Barb, (which those who've played will know) and a new class, the Witch Doctor. All classes will have both male and female characters, and switching skills has been improved for gaming efficiency. Also the environment will be much more interactive, and will be able to work for or against your character.

Unfortunately, all we have are the vids/screen shots from Blizzard's Site and the release date is set for 9/30/09. So for now, on to the Cow Levels!!

Game Review// TETRIS DS

Gameplay - 5/5

Tetris DS features the same old classic mode that we all have grown to love, as well as 6 other modes to play around with, and an online multiplayer mode. We all know how addicting Tetris can be, and this one is no exception! 

Sound - 5/5

Tetris DS features music and sound effects from some of your favourite Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Zelda, and many more. They are cleverly inputed as well, like when you finish a four row combo in Quest mode you will hear the classic Zelda jingle of when Link finds treasure.

Graphics - 5/5

The graphics in TETRIS DS feature a retro flare as well. If you are playing the Classic Mode will see the graphics of Super Mario Bros., or if you are in Mission Mode you will see visuals from Metroid.

Replay Value - 5/5

With a tons new modes to play you will be coming back to this one for a while.

SCORE: 100%

Final Word

Tetis has always been a fun game, and the DS version is no exception. With ton's of new modes to master, and retro music from some of Nintendo's best franchises, you will definately enjoy this one.

Game Demo// Space Siege Now Available

From the makers of the PC game Dungeon Siege, comes a new demo for their upcoming game Space Siege. Which really means that instead of it taking place in a medieval fantasy hack & slash type world, it will take place in the deep regions of space. Here is the link to the download, I will have an update when I try it out myself.

Game Review// Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X

Story - 4/5

The story starts us off with Mega Man getting a radio communication telling us that there are robots vandalizing a major highway, and you are to investigate the matter. Once you reach the end of the level, you lose to a duel with a robot named Vile, and your buddy Z comes to your aid. Then Z tells you that you aren't powerful enough to face Vile yet, and that he will meet you at Sigma's Fortress. This is all being voice acted by the way. The story isn't too bad actually. Not amazing, not too corny.

Graphics - 3/5
The graphics for this game are done in 3D, but you will be looking at them in the 3.5D perspective. They are done really well, but there are some still jaggies to be found since it is 3D. There is some slowdown if there is a lot of objects on the screen, but it doesn't make the game unplayable. Personally I prefer the old 2D form. It looked smoother, and much more artistic.

Sound - 5/5

If you enjoyed Mega Man X's sound track for the Super Nintendo, you will love the music in this game. The music is as catchy as ever, and has been fully remastered!

Gameplay 4.6/5

If you are familiar with Mega Man X for the Snes, you will have no trouble jumping in, and kicking some Sigma @$$! There are 3 difficulties to choose from once you boot up the game. I picked normal mode, because I didn't beat the original Mega Man X for the Snes, not until recently at least... The game is fairly simple. Its a side scrolling platformer where you run, and shoot. You can also charge up your shot, and you can know when its charged by hearing X scream a certain way. There are upgrades to be found through out the levels, like health/power upgrades and the dash, which really comes in handy when you need to dodge an enemy quickly, and also helps you get to secret areas. After beating each the boss at the end of a stage, you will be rewarded with a new weapon that again can help you gain access to secret areas or items. These weapons can run out of energy, but you can earn power capsules to replenish your power meter. The health upgrades serve as a potion would in an RPG, except they are capsules and you are only allowed 4. You can also save your progress at anytime, and it will remember your upgrades, bosses defeated, but your life amount will be reset to 2.

AVERAGE: 83%

Final Word

Its a great game, but it is rather short. You should definitely give it a try if you haven't played the original for the Snes, or even if you want some nostalgia. This is a good rental, or a great buy if you can find it for a good price!

Game Review// Grand Theft Auto 4

Probably the biggest franchise name in gaming that is not Mario or The Sims. The ever so controversial Grand Theft Auto comes out with their newest work for this generation of gaming hardware. Although this game is not really the fourth one in the series, they decided to go with this most likely as a way of showing the franchise growing to the next level.

Long gone are the cartoony styles of the previous games and no more odd shaped polygon created people walking around the city.

They may be long gone but the humor my friends is here to stay.

The hype for this game has been raging on like an old man standing in the complaint line at your Wal-Mart. Years of promises and screenshots were leaving many fans wishing they could fast forward time so they could hold this game in their hands now. But of course now the wait is over and what are we left with? Well that depends on how you see the game. Some say that this game is the greatest thing to happen to humanity since sliced bread! Others say that this is just the same old *#$% and can't be bothered wasting any more time on it. And then there are the people like me. Who although enjoy the game very much. They are left somewhat wanting more, something innovative, and not feeling a bit like the game was not on par with all the hype.

The first thing I notice during the opening cinematic of course were the graphics. I was impressed by how good the game looked for a console and how cinematic the intro movie felt due to the camera angles and the opening credits.

Graphics aside the accuracy of some key points of real NeW York City is quite realistic. From Time Square to the Statue of Liberty, although done in their own Rockstar way. The physics were also noteworthy as light impact with people had different reactions of pedestrians putting their hands on the hood of the car to keep themselves from losing balance. My one annoyance with this game environment wise is that you can knock over as many lampposts as you want but for some strange reason very small and skinny trees have the strength  of a freaking concrete wall. No matter how hard you hit them and by all logical reasons that those trees should break in half, there is no way to shatter them, sending you flying out of your car into oncoming traffic!

The shooting is very a la Gears of War style in this one, a radical change from previous iterations of the game. Having a shoot over the shoulder camera view and being able to take cover turns a somewhat mediocre shooting mechanic from previous GTAs into a somewhat more bearable experience. Shooting from your car is the most painful guessing game of where the center of your reticule is. That sometimes i wish this game would burn for making it so hard to shoot from a vehicle. Saints Row had this one right as it was always pretty straightforward where you were gonna be shooting before you pulled the trigger while driving. Also this doesn't help the fact that GTA4 has some of the worst cars for turning that I have seen in a long time. Combine the driving and the shooting and your in for a long queue of headaches.

Overrall this is a very good game and I totally recommend picking one up. It doesn't matter for what system really if you have both unless if you care about Downloadable Content for the 360 which as of this post we still know nothing of. But if you own just one well get it for that one. It might not be completely a big step forward compared to GTA: San Andreas but it shows enough improvement for a long time of enjoyment.