Gamer vs. Gamer: Thoughts and reactions.

Hey guys! It’s been a long time since I posted but I think I’m back. Yeah, so anyway…

If you’re a console gamer living in the Philippines, you might have heard of this little convention called Gamer vs. Gamer held last Saturday. It is said to be the first gaming convention in the Philippines; calling console, tabletop, PC and arcade gamers alike to come and join. That got me excited. So excited that I attended.

I went through the doors of the convention at around 5PM and it didn’t take me long to see how much of a failure the con was. It seemed like a ghost town. That or it looked like a normal computer shop. Basically, there were E-Games booths everywhere. There were at least 20 PC’s per E-Games booth and there was like six booths, all different games. My mind was just thinking “This can’t be it. Goddamn it! This can’t be it!” but no, I was faced with the horrible reality. This wasn’t a gaming convention. This was a glorified computer shop, and not the high-end ones either.

There was generally no love for console gaming. It broke my heart to see only one Wii, 360 and PS3 in the console booth. That immediately killed my expectations for any online tourney. There were select games for each console. The PS3 had Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Assassin’s Creed 2, Army of Two: The 40th Day and Batman: Arkham Asylum. The 360 had Bioshock 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. And the Wii? It had Wii Sports Resort. And that was it. So as you can see, all of those games aren’t fit for any kind of tourney. That and they aren’t really new-ish. I mean seriously? This was it for console gaming? Sorry to cuss, but where the f*** was the console gamer representation? This was just a disgrace. At the least, I would’ve expected a Tekken tourney. It’s easy enough to handle and only requires one system, but no. Hell, Super Smash Bros. Brawl would’ve made an epic tourney for the Wii! Four players duking it out all at once. But that was also a myth. How hard could it have been? The tabletop booth looked much more lively than the console booth, and that’s just incredibly sad.

Don’t get me started with the arcade gaming representation. The only games there were Percussion Freaks 5th Mix (complete with a barely working red pad), two Tekken 5: DR (one of which had a discolored screen), some NBA game and one basketball shootout machine. I’ve got to hand it to this con for making arcade gamers look pitiful.

I left at around 7:30PM, just disheartened at the wreck that I just attended. There was an open-bar at 8PM but meh, I don’t drink nor did I see any reason for staying any longer. I can only think of one upside. It barely counts but it was the single, most interesting thing in the convention. Datablitz hosted a bring-me game and were giving away games to whoever brought the item first. The last bring-me was probably the crowning moment of the con though. The last game up for grabs was the brand new StarCraft II. Most of the people were just staring at it, possibly with awe. Then the host announced the bring-me item. “Bring me… a PSP!” A handful of people ran towards the stage to claim their prize when suddenly, a twist comes in. “Let’s make this trickier” the host said, “bring me as PSP with a UMD inside!” Immediately, every one of the people holding their PSP up put theirs down. I was just laughing, I found it hilarious how every PSP owner in that bunch got shot down when the host mentioned that an original game be included with the PSP. Finally after two or so minutes, a guy comes up the stage and proudly presents both his PSP and a UMD of Tekken 5. Kudos to him for both having a UMD and owning a brand new StarCraft II.

So yeah, that’s that. The first ever gaming con in the Philippines, a complete and utter flop. I just want to say, to all you big companies out there that plan on creating another gaming con, contact us real gamers first. We’d be happy to help organize the event. Partly because we know what our fellow gamers want.

Thanks for reading and good night!

Split/Second Review: The Spiritual Successor of Burnout.

Ever wondered what it’d be like to race in an environment wherein everything is just rigged and ready to blow? This is the premise of Split/Second. Dubbed a reality TV show, you are a contestant in this twisted racing fantasy only Michael Bay could possibly think of. The game is your typical arcade racer with a huge twist: you blow stuff up to take other rivals out. From parked cars to a whole rock face, the environment is your weapon in this game. Sure you can ram your rivals, but that doesn’t really do much.

Split/Second takes everything good about arcade racers and keeps them while adding a whole lot more into the mix. One element is the Power Play mechanic, which is the one used to blow stuff up. Before you can set anything on fire, you must first build up your Power Play meter. The meter is located behind your car. This is another unique thing about Split/Second, it integrates the HUD behind your car so that you can view the spectacle which is the race with minimal distractions. Back to the meter, you build it up by drifting, drafting, catching air or having a close shave with your rivals’ own Power Plays. Once you fill up a meter, icons will start appearing in top of racers. This is the time wherein you can activate the Power Plays. There are four types of Power Plays. Level 1 Power Plays are your basic explosions. These range from a crane dropping some steel girders to much simpler ones like roadside tankers exploding. These are usually used just to distract your rivals from their racing lines or let them drift uncontrollably because of the shockwaves caused by the explosions. Level 2 Power Plays are much bigger ones. They range from blowing a whole warehouse up to a whole ship capsizing into the track. These are just chaotic and very effective against taking down rivals. The next one is the Shortcut. Shortcuts in this game are activated and open up a path for you to take. As long as the Shortcut is open, anyone can take advantage. After a little while though, the Shortcut closes up forcing other racers to take the other route. The last and most dynamic of all Power Plays is the Route Changer. These are Power Plays that indefinitely alter the track you race in by destroying a huge structure. They are amazing to watch and can generally change the outcome of the race.

Can you outrun a building?

Is it a cheap gimmick just to sell the game? Well, not really. You see, once you know where all the Power Plays are, you are aware where and how these Power Plays work out. This is when this “gimmick” turns into a strategic element in the game. Timing is everything in this game and if you just spam your Power Plays, you’ll end up with no power and your rival still in the lead. Worst case scenario, you hitting yourself with your own Power Play. Time them right though and you’ll be in the lead in no time. Once you’re in the lead though, you do no get to activate Power Plays, besides the Route Changers and the Shortcuts, which means you’ll be under fire from your rivals and will have to play defense to maintain that lead. It keeps the race exciting and very lively that way.

General gameplay is very good. Every car handles differently from each other. Some cars will let out a slide even if you just tap the steering and some cars will just grip the track like a magnet. There are 3 different types of cars in Split/Second. These are the drift-happy Muscle Cars, the loose-handling Supercars and the tough-as-nails Racing Trucks. Drifting in this game is a bit different. It’s not loose like Burnout’s but not as controlled as Ridge Racer’s either. It has its own drifting mechanic, a grippy one to be precise, and it honestly works really well. It can also slow you down if you’re using the wrong car, so pick wisely. The AI in the game is also pretty good. It’s not too easy nor too hard, it’s balanced. They suffer from rubberbanding though, but it was pretty necessary. I mean, the whole premise of the game is to wreak havoc, and you can’t really do that if you’re all alone in the front of the pack. They can be cheap, but they’re a nice challenge.

A look at the innovative HUD and the carnage.

The Season mode, which is the main mode of the game is composed of 12 Episodes, each containing 6 races. The reality TV show theme is handled really well throughout the Season. As episodes end, you are treated to a teaser to the next episode, complete with those fast credits no one can ever read. It’s a really nice touch and helps with the overall theme. By winning races in the Season, you are awarded Credits which will unlock cars. Cars unlocked can be used in any game mode, even online. So yeah, if you’re thinking of going online before starting the season, forget about it as you will just be outran by players with much better cars than you. Sadly though, the Season doesn’t last long and that’s possibly the biggest gripe of this game.

There are 6 game modes in Split/Second, 3 of which (Race, Survival and Eliminator) can be played in local splitscreen. Race and Eliminator are pretty obvious modes already so we’ll focus on the other 4. First is Survival, a very unique and fun mode. The objective of this game is to pass container trucks for points. Think it’s easy? Well, it isn’t as these trucks drop explosive barrels that go off when you make contact with them. Blue barrels will make you skid out of control while red ones will immediately put your car out of commission. There’s a time limit in this mode and once it runs out, everyone is put into Sudden Death where every barrel the trucks will be dropping are red. The mode ends once everyone is wrecked. Next is Detonator. Basically the time attack of this game, only with a twist. While you run through the track, several Power Plays will be going off to put you out of your racing line. Then there’s Air Strike, one of the craziest modes in a racing game ever thought of. The objective of this mode is to weave through as many missile waves fired by a helicopter. The more waves you weave through, the more points you get. It’s an absolute riot and is just begging to be playable in splitscreen. Lastly, there’s Air Revenge. It’s the same as Air Strike but instead of points, you’re tasked into building up your Power Play meter to deflect incoming missiles from the helicopter. Not as fun as Air Strike sadly, it’s a bit of a wasted thought.

I have to do WHAT?!

The presentation of this game is superb. The menus are one of the slickest I have ever seen in a game, let alone a racing game. Trophies earned will be unlocked as decals which will appear in your car. This makes it easier to identify the really competitive ones online as you can just take a glimpse of their car and see what trophies they’ve unlocked. A very nice touch, but it’d be nicer if you had the chance to pick where and what decals to place on your car. The cars are mocks-ups of real cars but they’re just as beautiful as their counterpart, maybe even more. Excellent lighting jaw-dropping explosions litter the game, truly making it a spectacle to behold. There’s also the fact that the framerate stays steady even though a lot of Power Plays are going on screen at the same time, an amazing and impressive feat. The music score is very fitting to the epic that is the game. Sadly though, there aren’t many variants to the score which results in hearing the same music after just a few races. The sound effects are utterly glorious. The game just asks you to turn up your speakers just to boast the amazing sound it produces.

Overall, this game is the spiritual successor of the circuit-racing Burnouts, and that’s said as an honor. One of the most exhilarating and most adrenalin-pumping racers of all time thanks to the amazing Power Plays and one of the best and funnest racers of this gen thanks to the varied and unique modes, this is one racer you shouldn’t miss out on.

Thanks for reading!

How far will Harmonix go with Rock Band 3?

If you’ve downloaded and played the new Green Day Rock Band demo, you were treated to a teaser screen. This is what it looks like:

Everything looks so fami- wait a second…

Yes, you saw that right. Between the huge “3″ logo and the Vocals (now featuring 3 mics, implying that there will be vocal harmonies, similar to The Beatles: Rock Band), you get a Piano icon. Holy crap, that is awesome, right? Now, nothing has been confirmed yet but some speculate that it won’t be a keyboard but the Keytar, a keyboard held like a guitar. Some also speculate that the keyboard will be missing a few buttons, which could be true due to the fact I can’t fathom where you can put the keyboard’s note highway in an already cluttered screen when playing a full band. EA is keeping their mouths sealed though and will be revealing everything in E3 2010 which is just a few weeks away.

Keyboard goes where now?

That’s not all though. Earlier news than this, Harmonix said that they will take Rock Band 3 to a whole new level wherein you can actually learn the instrument you’re playing. Then there’s the news that Mad Catz will be the one handling the instruments now while EA will only distribute them. So, new instruments perhaps? And how far can you take the franchise to to make it even more revolutionary? I mean, drums are already close enough to the real thing, sans the hi-hat pedal and some cymbals which could easily be integrated seeing as the Rock Band 2 set already had the cymbal add-ons (not to mention the Ion Rocker which is a real drum in its own) but what about the guitar and bass? Will there be more buttons? Maybe they’ll feature more than one strum bar now to replicate multiple strings.

So you think you’re hardcore now?

Then there’s the keyboards/keytar. You can’t really learn that instrument with only 7 buttons now can you? Then there’s the impending recharting of the old songs. If the new instruments will have new buttons and whatnot, the old charts will absolutely be obsolete. This innovation just strings together problem after problem. There’s also a rumor floating around that there will be a “Pro” mode wherein players, quote: “require proper technique, and may lead to actual skills on guitars and bass.” But who knows? Let’s just wait for E3 2010 and see what EA and Harmonix have in store for us.

Pantera makes their way to Rock Band!

If you’ve been following the news, Harmonix announced late last year that a handful of great bands will be making their way to Rock Band’s shores. Many of these bands have already made it but one of these bands was Pantera, and they were still MIA, until now that is. Several months have passed and we will finally get our dose of Pantera with their debut into Rock Band. The tracks? Their whole The Great Southern Trendkill album.

PANTERA!!

Here’s a quote from Harmonix’s announcement thread:

Hey all!

Kat filling in for HMXHenry on this fine Friday morning.
Lots of you have been itching for Pantera and HERE IT IS!
Enjoy!

~HMXKat

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 25):

· “The Great Southern Trendkill”
· “War Nerve”
· “Drag the Waters”
· “10’s”
· “13 Steps to Nowhere”
· “Suicide Note Pt. II”
· “Living Through Me (Hell’s Wrath)
· “Floods”
· “The Underground in America”
· “(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin”

(All tracks are original master recordings; “Suicide Note Pt. I” is not included in this pack.)

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 May 26)

These tracks will be available for purchase as “The Great Southern Trendkill (Album),” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks only on Wii.

Price: $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track

$15.99, £9.99 UK, €12.99 EU (1280 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “The Great Southern Trendkill (Album)”

$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points™) per track

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **

Excited? I know I am.

Thanks for reading and good day!

PS3 trophies: Why do I insist in torturing myself with these?

Seriously. Back then during the PS2 and before, I wouldn’t even touch the hardest difficulty setting of a game, thinking that I didn’t need to do them anyway because I already finished the game. Speaking of finishing a game, I also rarely replayed a game because there was little to no incentive in doing so. But with the introduction of the trophy system on the PS3, I was just hooked. I don’t know why, but that chime whenever you get a trophy feels so satisfying.

That’s a nice trophy number…

What triggered this strange addiction to virtual trophies? Well, the first PS3 game I got was MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, which was bundled along with my PS3. I knew nothing back then about these so I just played through the game. At first I didn’t even mind them, thinking “Hey, okay. That’s neat” and proceeded to play along with the game. Days passed and I was hooked to the game. By this time, I was racing online just for the fun of it. But then I unlocked even more trophies and at the same time, more vehicles. This is probably when the trophy hunting started. I liked to unlock all the cars and to do so, I needed to do the trophies. I checked the trophies screen and was amazed at how hard and silly some the trophies were. But nonetheless, I plowed through everything just to get those cars. A month had passed and I got my first ever Platinum (and a sweet dump truck to boot). I then reflected upon it and I thought “Why?” Because in all seriousness, I went through Time Trial mode, a mode in racing games that I barely even touch, and yet, I didn’t feel bored or gutted about it. Just incredibly satisfied. From then on, I just decided to Platinum every game I get, no matter the difficulty. But of course, we all have our limits so some trophy sets in my profile aren’t complete. It’s either because I got bored and incredibly disinterested with them (Midnight Club) or is just incredibly difficult (Beatles: Rock Band).

My first and ironically, the hardest Platinum in my list.

So you may call me a trophy whore, but honestly, I’m not. I do not buy or even rent games with easy trophy sets. All the games in my trophy list are games I own and have bought. If the game has an easy trophy set, then so be it. If it has a hard one, then I’m all up for the challenge. Also, I do not tend to complete trophy sets of games I don’t enjoy so yeah, I wouldn’t even think of buying or even renting a game like Hannah Montana just to get the Platinum for it.

But really? What pushes me to get these achievements? What pushes me to sing for 6 hours straight the whole Rock Band 2 setlist? What pushes me to senselessly kill 53,000+ zombies in Prototype? Well, here’s the short answer for you: I’m incredibly OC and it’s fun for me. With the trophy system, I just can’t stand not having 100%/Platinum on a game. It just looks horrible to me.

Why do you mock me so?! Can’t I delete you? Please?

There’s also the fact that games are expensive. Some of them can be finished in less than 10 hours and that’s a hard pill to swallow considering a PS3 game costs around P2500. With trophies, it remedies that sickness. Instead of just shelving a game after the first playthrough, you can either go through it again or do some random stuff just to get the trophies. Yes it may be sometimes tedious and hard but hey, at least you’re getting your money’s worth with added hours to those games. Not to mention you can actually hone your skills a lot more in a certain genre you’re having trouble with by forcing you to do trial and error until you master it. Yep, I just really love the challenge.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good night.

It’s a split second race!

If you were unlucky to be donned with a PS3 (I use this as loosely as possible), you had to wait for at least two more weeks to try the demo of Split/Second. But now that it’s out, we can finally taste the carnage and destruction that this game brings!

Before anything, the demo is  currently out only in the UK PSN Store. So if you’re eager to try it out, just create a UK PSN account. It will be available in the US PSN Store come next week. The file size is 762 MB so delete those old demos if you’re running out of space. Also, this was the demo used way back in 2009. What you can experience here is just the core gameplay. Everything else (AI, framerate, graphics) is subjected to be a whole lot different from the final game.

As you may know, Split/Second is an arcade racer. What makes this different from all of the other racers is that the track or environment is your weapon. You are set in a reality TV show that has every inch of the track rigged to blow just to mess with your rivals.

In this demo, the only mode offered is the standard 3-lap race. It doesn’t even give you a glimpse of the menu, it throws you right in the middle of the race.

Graphics are nice. It’s a bit jagged at some parts but really nice. The track you race in particular is quite a sight to see, everything so colorful yet teeming with a touch of carnage, giving you that sense of tension. Then comes the part where you race in it.

The first few seconds of the race will have you racing like a normal arcade racer: just scurry around the track, rubbing up against opponents, hoping to get the always important first place. But then, the track comes to life. Explosions occur and it leaves some of the racers distraught. This is when Split/Second becomes a totally different experience. You can trigger these “Power Plays” (yes, that is what they are called) but to do so, you’ll need to fill up your Power Play meter, which is located right beneath your car. That’s another innovation for this racer, the HUD is completely behind your car. The point of this is to let you behold the spectacle that is the race. The HUD is surprisingly not bothersome and is pretty cool. So anyway, you can fill the Power Play Meter by drafting, drifting, jumping and having close calls with other players’ own attempts at taking you out with their Power Plays. Once you have your Power Play meter filled up, you can activate either a level 1 or a level 2 Power Play.

A look at the aforementioned HUD and a Power Play currently taking place.

Level 1 Power Plays are your basic explosions. These vary from track side explosions to several parked vehicles all spontaneously blowing up. They can either take your rival down or just let them drift uncontrollably. These Power Plays use one bar of the three from your Power Play meter. Level 2 Power Plays are the big ones. In the track in the demo, there are several of them. The most eye-popping of them all is bringing down an airplane to the track (not kidding!) but more importantly, they can be used to switch routes. Yes, in this game, you can blow up a segment of a track to reveal another segment of the track, always for the better if you’re trailing dead last or are just aiming for a better time. In the track, there are a total of 3 route changers. These Power Plays can only be used if all three bars are filled up.

Power Plays are kinda a strategic piece in the game. You can splurge all the level 1 power plays you like but this leaves you without a critical route changer. Route changers are a big thing here as it literally cut a ton of seconds off your time. The first go I had around the track, I did a 4:11:xx, triggering one route changer. I’ve since tried to do a perfect run with all 3 route changers being activated and that landed me a staggering 3:38:xx. It’s not just a gimmick but rather a strategic way to race as chaotically as possible just to get enough power plays to activate all 3 of them. There are also some times that you are completely dependent on other racers to activate power plays for you (like the shortcut) so it really gets you thinking if whether or not activating this power play is to your advantage or not.

Sucks to be you!

The controls take some time to get used to. For instance, the drift is not so easily executed. It’s a strange mix of Burnout’s and Ridge Racer’s drifting. It’s hard to explain but let’s just put it that it has grip when drifting (unlike Burnout’s which completely lets the car slide). It’s not so bad though. Once you get used to it, you can use drifting as an advantage and rack up some Power Play bars. There has been some speculation that drifting slows you down. This is true if you’re trying to snake (trying to drift around while in a straight) but not so true when tackling corners. I find myself as fast or even faster then the other cars when doing a nice, controlled drift. The handling is grippy, in the sense that your car feels like a magnet in the track. It’s pretty good and handles well.

Overall gameplay is a blast. Everything’s over-the-top that it keeps you on your toes. Too bad though that the AI is quite dumb. I can’t make judgment yet as this is only a demo. But as of this demo, the AI is just too easy. Once you get them off your back, they’re off your back for good. An interesting thing though is that when you’re in the lead, the only Power Plays you can activate are the Route Changers and the Shortcuts. This gives ample opportunity for other players to catch up to you and try to blow you away using offensive Power Plays. The game feels fast enough, granted that you’re racing one of the slowest cars in the game. I didn’t notice anything about the framerate (something that has been brought up quite a lot), all I can tell is that it’s smooth and hasn’t stuttered once.

Music is fitting. The tense, orchestral music just gives you the feeling that this is one epic race you’re in.

And that’s probably it. These are my impressions of the Split/Second demo. If you don’t trust me, well, just go on and try playing it yourself. As for me, I know that this will be a blast and will definitely be a first day buy for me.

Thank you for reading and good day!