Category: Video Games

The Sony dealer in Kuwait has started selling the Sony PSP. The value pack with 1 game is selling for KD99 while a value pack with 2 games for KD113.

The design of the Nintendo Revolution controller was finally made public today. Its incredibly creative and definitely kicks both Microsoft and Sonys ass in the controller department.. especially Sony who have their weird looking boomerang controller. The Revolution controller comes in two parts (one is pictured above) and has motion sensors so it can detect if you are holding the controller sideways or which direction you are turning it. This can be used in games so for example if you are playing Star Wars you can swing the controller around and your character on the screen will swing his Light Saber the same way you are. So now the Nintendo Revolution has 2 things going for it, you can play old Nintendo games on the system plus it has an incredibly smart controller. [Link]

Update: Check out this link for a lot more better pictures of the controller [Link]

All the bundles below are for $799:

Xbox 360 Core Bundle – Teen 1
Xbox 360 Core Bundle – Teen 2
Xbox 360 Core Bundle – Mature 1
Xbox 360 Core Bundle – Mature 2

Fully Loaded
Core System

People complain about how the Sony PSP’s battery lasts for only 3 hours while the Nintendo DS lasts for 8. Well I have had the PSP for a few months now and I never had a battery issue because I was always able to charge the battery before it got low enough to cause me a problem. Awhile ago I was playing with my Nintendo DS and suddenly the green battery LED turned red. So I figure this must mean I have like 2 hours of playtime left before the battery dies. I was wrong, 20 minutes later my DS died!

There is no way to know exactly how much power is left in your DS until the red light comes on and only then do you know that you are fucked. Atleast with the PSP in every pause screen of any game you can see the battery meter on the top right corner telling you exactly how much battery is left.

Here is a list of PSP games coming out this month:
September 06, 2005 – Gretzky NHL 06
September 13, 2005 – MediEvil Resurrection
September 13, 2005 – World Series of Poker
September 19, 2005 – Frantix
September 19, 2005 – Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
September 19, 2005 – GripShift
September 20, 2005 – Burnout Legends
September 27, 2005 – Madden NFL 06

Oolite is a space sim game, written for Mac OS X in Objective C using Cocoa and OpenGL. It is designed as a small game that is easy for users to pick up and expand upon. Almost every aspect of the game can be modified using simple, free graphics packages and text-editors. Oolite now works in Tiger. [Link]

Update: Although the idea behind this game sounded promising, after playing it or should I say trying to play it, this game is basically crap.

Found this really cool graphic novel for the PSP. Issue 1 is already out and Issue 2 should be coming out this month. [Link]

Today I got an email from Sony, I was accepted to be a beta tester for SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo for the PSP. According to Sony:

Congratulations on being selected to participate in this exclusive public beta test. As a beta tester, you should receive the following item(s) via UPS in approximately 29 days:

– UMD Beta Disc
– Beta Manual

This is going to kick ass, SOCOM is going to be the first PSP game that can be played online and I will get to beta test it!

Wooohoo!! Finally you can preorder the GameBoy Micro from Amazon.com!! It will get released on September 19th, and I will be getting the Black one since silver is so yesterday. [Silver] [Black]

I love Street Fighter and if they come out with Street Fighter 4 that would be really fucking kick ass. I just hope they up the graphics to atleast Guilty Gear quality. [Link]

Yesterday I got my Nintendo DS which I had ordered from Amazon.com. I had ordered the bundle which included the Spiderman 2 game, Metroid Prime demo game and the Pro Gamers Kit. The Pro Gamers Kit is basically an Aluminum Case, Games Case, Earphones, Car adapter Screen Lenses and Neck Strap all in 1 package. The aluminum case looks like those bags in the movies where the drug dealers carry their cocaine in. First thing I did once I picked up my stuff was pass by Rihab Complex to exchange the Spiderman game for Super Mario. I hate Spiderman 2 but it came for free with the bundle and I figured I could exchange it for a game I would enjoy more. I found a store in Rihab that was willing to exchange spiderman for mario if I paid him KD3 which was a fair deal and I went ahead with the trade.

When I got home I took out the DS from the package and started playing with it. First thing I noticed was that its huge. Compared to my PSP the DS feels larger and heavier, Nat felt this the most since her hands are smaller then mine. I played Mario for a while and then played the mini games that came with the game and it wasn’t bad. I actually prefer the mario mini games to the actual game, they were more fun and faster. I really like the touch screen, I hate the stylus and thumb strap though, I prefer using my thumbs to click and rub the screen. I later played the Metroid Prime demo and that also made use of the touch screen, using my thumbs to click on screen buttons is very practical and easy. The reason I purchased the DS was so I could play the game Nintendogs which I ordered with the DS but which I still haven’t received so I am kinda disappointed about that.

The graphics of the DS compared to the PSP suck of course. This is why if I am going to buy games for the DS they won’t be realistic looking games. I would get 2D games or 3D games with a cartoony look, like Mario and Nintendogs. When it comes to realistically rendered games the PSP will always win. In October Castlevania is going to be released on the DS and it will be in 2D which is exactly the way I like it, so that will be the next game I will probably get. Nat is enjoying Mario a lot at the moment so I think she will be hogging the DS until I get Nintendogs at the end of this week.

So in conclusion, my first impressions of the DS is that its big, bulky, heavy and the graphics suck. BUT, it does have 2 things going for it, the touch screen and some cool games (like Nintendogs & Castlevania). I personally believe a system is worth purchasing if there is 1 great game you want on it, having 2 games I want is a bonus.

Click here to see the Nintnedo DS with the Pro Gamers Kit.

Finally installed the PSP 2.0 firmware update and I can now browse the internet from my PSP. Cool shit.

Update: So far first impressions of the browser is thats its pretty cool, perfect for checking up on sites from bed before I go to sleep or at the airport while I wait to pick someone up. I haven’t any problems browsing except for 2 websites. 2:48AM’s sidebar didn’t show up on the PSP and Idontlikeyouinthatway.com gave me an out of memory error. Other then that everything worked like a charm. To make my life easier I also create a homepage for the PSP which includes links to all the sites I visit, this way I don’t have to type each one out manually.

Finally the US 2.0 is out. People who downloaded the Japanese version last month will not be able to install the US version on their PSP. Currently though there seems to be no new features in the US version over the Japanese version. [Link]

EBgames has two very cool XBOX 360 bundles for pre-ordering. I am going to get the Ultimate Bundle since that has the most goodies. So Nat, if you are reading this, thank you in advance for this very thoughtful birthday gift! [Link]