Category: Video Games

The new Grand Theft Auto is already out in some places and probably the most important question people are going to ask is which version is better, the PS3 or the 360? Kotaku tried both versions and have gone ahead and compared the two and the results seem very close. I’ve been wanting to get a PS3 for a while now but it looks like there isn’t a game out yet that makes it worth getting over my 360. [Link]

Update: Game Center in Rihab Complex in Hawalli are selling Grand Theft Auto IV for KD25

Something for everyone except us Mac users! [Link]

Street Fighter fans, check out the gameplay video of the upcoming Street Fighter IV! [Link]

The other day I posted about the great offer that the SONY dealer had where you can buy a 60GB Sony PS3 plus a get a game of your choice and an extra controller for KD139 and a PS3 by itself for KD135. Well it turns out the salesman was an idiot. For KD139 you get a 40GB PS3 with one joypad and the movie Spiderman and here is the best part, for KD135 you get a 60GB PS3 by itself BUT it doesn’t come with warranty! I spoke to a salesman over the phone after I heard about this just to confirm and it turned out to be true.

Even stores in Rihab who are selling grey market PS3’s give customers at least 3 months warranty, how come the official SONY dealer doesn’t provide warranty on the PS3’s they’re selling? This is just wrong in so many ways, its really a bad business decision. There is a lot of piracy in Kuwait and if the SONY dealer wants people to purchase proper Middle East versions of the PS3’s and not the grey market USA and Japanese version this is really the wrong way to go about it. Why should I buy from the official dealer if the grey market versions have warranty and theirs don’t?

Thank you MYK!

The Sony dealer is selling the 60GB PS3 for only KD135. According to the salesman at the Souk Sharq branch they also have an offer where you can get a 60GB PS3 with an extra controller and a game of your choice for KD139. Thats a pretty good deal.

Last year Amazon had an offer where they sold a limited quantity of Xbox 360’s for $100. I tried to purchase one but wasn’t able to because their servers flooded and my connection wasn’t fast enough to get through. This year Amazon have a similar offer except its a chance to purchase the Nintendo Wii for only $79. For some reason they’ve changed the timings this year and now, if I want to have a chance to purchase one of these Wii’s, I need to be up Thursday at 5AM in the morning. Even though, I think I might actually wake up and try it. [Amazon Link]

update: Ok it seems its different from last years campaign. Since there was so much chaos last year, this year Amazon is RANDOMLY selecting 1000 customers who will be eligible to purchase the Wii at the discounted price.

I passed by and picked up my copy of Call of Duty 4 today from Rihab in Hawalli. I’ve been playing it for around an hour now and so far I think its the best military first person shooter ever. There are sooooo many enemies all trying to kill you at the same time its just non stop chaos all the time.
COD4 > Halo 3.

Lately I been playing lots of Halo 3 and been staring at that image as I wait for my games to load. It really astonished me since I am very familiar with the picture the world at night showing the world’s continents lit up.

Yet on Halo 3 Africa and South America are dark spots with a dots compared to the rest of the world.

It reminded me of my post Google Per Capita on how many people have access to Google. Yet the Halo Per Capita is even more telling. Just a quick glance of the map you can see which countries have access to high speed internet and disposable income to pay for a XBox.

Update: The lights on Halo3 map lighting up on the day of the game’s launch

I’ve been nagging my partner at work to bring in his Atari Lynx and today he finally did. It’s HUGE. The last time I had played with one was back in 1991 and since then haven’t seen it in person again. If you stack 20 iphones side by side and on top of each other the pile might come out as big at the Lynx.

Although Halo 3 is being released in the US on September 25th its currently available and being sold in Kuwait. Game Center in Rihab complex in Hawalli is selling the regular version for KD25 while the limited edition is selling for KD30.

Just wanted to boast to other video gamers that I am currently downloading the Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer Beta for the Xbox 360. Since I am a gamespot.com member I was given an activation key for the download. Gamespot rules! [Link]

Ummm sorry but Super Metroid should have been first, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night should have at least been in the top 10 and so should have Shenmue. Still an interesting list to go through if you are a videogame fan. [Link]

I went to the Cedar Lounge yesterday at the Beirut Airport while I waited for my flight since they have a business center with free Internet. After getting frustrated with the slow connection I decided I would go over to the kids section since the last time I was at the lounge they had a bunch of PlayStation 2’s in the kids room and one of them had a MotoGP game. I figured to kill time I would play some video games. To my astonishment it turns out the kids room was recently overhauled and now had 4 new Xbox 360 stations complete with extra wireless controllers and a bunch of games to choose from.

I ended up playing some Gears of War until it was time for me to leave. Since kids are in school the kids section is usually deserted with only business travelers hanging around outside. One thing I was surprised at was the lack of security camera’s in the room. It is extremely easy to steal a wireless controller, game, xbox hard drive or even the whole xbox if you really wanted to.

The Windows Gaming Championship should have started on May 10th (yesterday) but the custom PC’s the organizers had ordered were not cleared by the Kuwait customs. The event has now been postponed till May 17th and 18th. Here is a message from the organizer:

Dear All, Please accept our sincere apologies but due to a technical problem, we haveto postpone the Windows Gaming Championship Kuwait event until next week. The event will take place on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th May, on the ground floor of Sharq Market Mall, near Zara and Next from 1pm – 10pm on both days.

With many thanks and best regards,
Louise Hickman

For more information visit the official tournament website. [Link]
Here is the website of the Gulf Gamers. [Link]

Thanks Yousef

I got an Xbox 360 last week and a few minutes ago I just finished playing Pro Evolution Soccer with some guy in Ecuador. It was my first time playing on Xbox Live and it was pretty cool talking and playing with someone who was all the way across the world. I thought it wasn’t possible to play online because of lag but I am on a 512KB Qualitynet connection and I didn’t have any problems.