The Cat Gamer

New Move For Me

2011-02-22T01:45:00.004+08:00

I have just received a new Playstation Move Starter Pack from my girlfriend as a birthday gift. Really didn't see this one coming, so I'm all giddly right now thinking of getting home and experiencing some 1:1 motion sensing yumminess :).

Hopefully it works much better than the Wii's motion plus hardware, which in my opinion already works amazingly good.

Mobile Phone Gaming (and a little something about the Samsung Wave)

2010-09-16T13:20:00.009+08:00

Mobile phones aren't exactly my cup of tea when it comes to portable gaming (I have my DS and PSP to keep me company there), but there's been a pretty good supply of games coming out for these phones that I can't help but be intrigued by what they can actually offer.

I recently got myself a Samsung Wave, Samsung's new flagship phone that debuted side by side with their new Bada OS. Now the phone itself is pretty slick, has a really good camera and runs very very smooth. I mean, I haven't had the pleasure of toying around with today's smartphones but from what I've tried, oftentimes they felt sluggish when compared to the inevitable iphone. The Wave on the other hand feels just as smooth and the screen is something to die for! It looks like they slapped a really good LED HDTV in there for the screen, its that good.

Moving to the nerdy stuff, this phone packs hardware that can give almost any modern phone a run for its money (yes, even the new iphone 4). Unless I'm wrong, this phone contains the same cpu as the iphone 4 (a 1 ghz custom designed chip that's leagues faster than the usual snapdragon cpu in some android phones) but a more advanced gpu. More like a 1.5 version of the GPU of the iphone 4, so that should mean better game performance. Unfortunately from the many Gameloft ports I've tried on this phone, they seem to depict the opposite (read: really shoddy framerates). Please Gameloft, put a little bit more love on your ports. Maybe Bada is to blame for being an OS in its infancy stages, but other games seem to run just as good as their iphone siblings so c'mon, at least put a little bit more effort and don't just do it for the quick cash-ins.

Anyway, paid apps just arrived here in the Philippines and I was able to purchase both Twin Blades and ExZeus for my Wave and let me just say, these games look awesome for phones! I may be a bit behind since these were already released on other platforms before, but at least I didn't have to shell out a fortune just to have a phone that can run them.

Epic's Project Sword, aka Unreal Engine 3 drool, on the iphone 4, courtesy of IGN

Mobile gaming seems to be hittng a high note nowadays, with big time developers jumping aboard and testing the waters. ID has their latest engine running on the iphone 4 at perfect 60fps and Epic just released an amazing iphone playable demo of unreal engine 3. I hope though these developers and publishers give other competing mobile phones some love since they are more than capable to doing what the iphone's capable of.

I've reached the end of Halo Reach

2010-09-16T06:02:00.002+08:00

Beaten and conquered (well, not exactly until I beat it in Legendary), I've finally completed all the main Halo games' campaigns yesterday. ODST is the only thing that's missing so I'm still trying to find time to beat that.

So what do I think about Bungie's final Halo game? Can't say much about multiplayer but the single player campaign seems to deliver everything Halo fans wanted. More epic set pieces, larger levels with lots of vehicle driving, and none of that corridor map crap found in previous Halo games. Yeah graphics are a mixed bag but overall, the game is just awesome! I always loved the single player campaigns of past Halo games but always put Halo CE on the top of them all. Now I can finally put that to rest as Halo Reach has finally succeeded in overthrowing the original in just about everything.

Mass Effect Marathon? Hell Yeah!

2010-01-23T13:51:00.002+08:00

Getting ready for Mass Effect 2, I'm set to complete the prequel on my PC just so I can get my save game to carry over haha. I never finished Mass Effect 1 due to my 360 suffering a heart attack, so it'll be refreshing to play it at the best settings on my PC (hopefully my e8400 will cope. Heard that you need a quadie for the best possible performance)

Dark Void = Straight to the Void

2010-01-21T02:07:00.006+08:00

I'm sorry to say this but it looks like Capcom and Airtight Games' Dark Void is destined to be a complete failure. In fact, the game never even grabbed my attention with the 1st trailers shown last year. I might be talking too early since I've only played through the training and 1st mission on my PC, but from what I've seen (andheard from other people who have tried out the demo), things are not looking good.

Controls are not that responsive (especially during flight), graphics are damn mediocre for a 2010 title even at the highest settings, and the gameplay itself plays like a crippled Gears of War wannabe with Rocketeer-esque sections that just are not enjoyable based on that short training course in the beginning. Plus despite the bad visuals, performance on the PC doesn't make much sense especially with all the stuttering and crap. My GTX 275 should be handling the Unreal engine with ease but that doesn't seem to be the case here!

So what just happened here? Airtight Games is composed of people who worked on one of the best Xbox games released back then, Crimson Skies, so its surprising to see them come up with a game this bad. If you ask me, Capcom should have just developed this title themselves instead of having another company do it since I believe their proprietary engine would have done wonders here (I mean, just compare this to something like Lost Planet, which was one of Capcom's first next generation games lol. Leagues apart in both performance and quality). So sad to see a very cool concept executed so poorly.

09.09.09

2009-09-10T02:56:00.005+08:00

Damn, I skipped this all important date because of work. Anyway, what's so special with it you ask (particularly the numbers)? Why, it was when the Dreamcast first launched in the US silly (September 9, 1999).

An amazing console backed by an amazing lineup of games, the Dreamcast was one of the best things that ever happened in the gaming industry. Heck, I loved it so much that I actually have 3 working units at home right now (c'mon, their dirt cheap now).

Launching in the US, it went head-to-head with the Playstation's own Final Fantasy 8. As much as I loved the Final Fantasy series, we bought a Dreamcast instead for Christmas. The first time we laid eyes on NBA 2k and Soul Calibur, everyone at home was floored. It was crazy, truly a generation ahead of everything! All the other games were great and the Dreamcast was just in a league of its own.

So how did it fall so badly? Yep, Sony and their senseless "Playstation 2 will be better than God" banter stole a lot of the thunder. Now don't get me wrong, the PS2 was a great machine, but it wasn't exactly the behemoth Sony was preaching. In fact a lot of times, it had a lot of inferior looking games compared to the Dreamcast. If Sega's console didn't just die so quickly, I can assure you that it would have been able to stand up against the PS2's best looking titles.

In the end, for all the true gamers out there, the Dreamcast will always live in our hearts (yes, can you feel the cheesyness haha). Let's all celebrate this 10th year anniversary by showing our lil friend here some gaming love :)

Leaked PC Game "Batman: Arkham Asylum" has problems?

2009-09-06T06:24:00.007+08:00

Yep, if you are one of those downloading the leaked direct2drive copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum right now, be warned that it contains a lot of game breaking and irritating bugs in it. It might be an early beta copy because some of the core files are actually older than the ones found in the demo. Or maybe its just a part of the Joker's gloriously sprung trap lol.

Anyway, one fix to get physx working was to copy over some of the demo files. Unfortunately, you'll still encounter frequent crashes due to some other files missing. The grappling hook also doesn't work in some key points and there are places where NPCs will just stop spawning. Game breaking indeed.

It might be a faulty crack, or a faulty beta release or whatever. The game is still a few days away from release and its a leaked copy so you can't blame the developers. Just buy it when it comes out, the developers deserve it for giving us the best comic book game ever.

Assassin's Creed 2 "Visions of Venice" Gameplay Trailer

2009-09-04T02:04:00.002+08:00

A new (first?) gameplay trailer of Assassin's Creed 2 was shown by Ubisoft to world today. Called "Visions of Venice", feast your eyes on what I believe will be the best looking multiplatform game coming out this year.

Batman: Arkham Asylum PC Demo Available Now

2009-08-08T00:06:00.003+08:00

That's right! Despite the game being pushed back for PCs due to the integration of physX (I doubt that's the reason. More like to even out consoles and pc sales I guess, or prevent piracy. Like that's possible haha), looks like all you dark crusader fans are still in luck. The demo just got released after showing up on PSN and Xbox Live and weighs in at around 2gb. Initial impressions around the web show that this here might just become the best batman game ever (not like it has any serious competition with previous games in the series lol).

I'm pretty excited myself. Downloading the demo right now as I type. Hopefully with physX enabled + AA, I'll still be able to max it out with my GTX 275 ^^. Here's a link to the download:

http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/14922/Batman:+Arkham+Asylum+Demo

Yu Suzuki Retires As Creative Officer

2009-07-31T22:39:00.004+08:00

Yup, you read that right. The main man behind the arcade hits you grew up with such as Virtua Series has officially retired from his position as "Creative Officer" at Sega of Japan.

The creator of titles like Virtua Fighter, OutRun and Shenmue has "retired" from his Creative Officer position at Sega of Japan, Sega announced this week. But the company isn't done with Yu Suzuki just yet.

While Sega-Sammy notes that Suzuki has "retired" from his role as Creative Officer of the AM Plus R&D department, he'll still have some influence at Sega. The developer will continue on as manager of that group, in a role that GameSpot, by way of Sega reps, says is of "diminished capacity."

Source

Man, does this mean that there's no more hope for Shenmue 3?? For cryin out loud, the game's entire story has been set in stone already for years I believe.

Halo Legends

2009-07-26T11:22:00.003+08:00

Halo mecha-esque anime for the win? Lol, not exactly mecha but some of the spartans seems to have been decked out with your traditional over the top japanese-animation-style designs in this new anime based on the mega popular Microsoft IP, Halo. Coming out late 2009 with the title "Halo Legends", here is the first trailer shown at Comic-Con:

Video Games | Halo Legends | Exclusive Debut Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Hopefully they don't stray too far from the Halo Universe and fill it up with your usual array of generic anime characters and cheesy storylines.

Bayonetta Japan Release Date

2009-07-16T10:11:00.004+08:00

Fancy a Devil May Cry game with a woman as the lead? If your a fan of the father of Devil May Cry, no doubt you've heard about his latest creation featuring the ass kicking witch (Bayonetta) famous for having her hair make up her clothes lol.

A release date was just announced for Japan, October 29, and if you pre-order, you get to nab a special soundtrack disc. Cool eh! Well let's just hope the other territorial releases aren't too far out.

Slim PS3 Spotted in the Philippines!?!

2009-07-14T09:47:00.006+08:00

Wow, now where did this come from? Looks like the Philippines has been stirring up the videogame world again, and well some of the news articles on this have been very saddening to me. Making the Philippines look like its stealing stuff doesn't sound good to me, especially when we've already been associated with so much piracy crap. Anyway, here's the controversial video in question:

Legit or not? Looks pretty damn real to me, and I heard its being sold for 20000 pesos which is a reasonable price for a PS3 and not something like a Polystation or anything fake like that. Plus, it looks very very close to the PS3 slim images that were leaked a while ago and the craftsmanship is just something you wouldn't find in a cheapo mockup:

Hopefully, more news comes out on this. If only I had the time, I'd go do my own investigation on this hot thing.

MTV Asia Top 10 Blogger Contest Entries

2009-07-13T18:17:00.003+08:00

http://www.mtvasia.com/Funstuff/Contests/BloggerContest/

Was browsing at home when I figured I'd check MTV Asia to see if the judges found the winners yet. To my surprise, they finally changed the blogger contest page and announced the finalists ^^. Congratulations to everyone :).

Too bad my entry didn't make it, but it was all still fun :).

Zeppelin 2gb Ram Sticks

2009-07-12T01:26:00.004+08:00

Just bought some new RAM earlier. I currently have 1x2gb ddr2-800 team elite ram on my rig but found out (after installing Windows 7 64bit and playing Crysis Warhead lol) that my system was basically begging for more. So I went out to the local computer shop and found 2 types of ram available. The Godly expensive Geil Evo One 4gb kit and the Godly cheap looking Zeppelin 2GB sticks haha. I figured I wasn't OC'ing anyway so I went with cheap ones and bought 2 of them (well, at least they had heat spreaders) for a dual-channel config and to bring my total to 6gb (just like triple channel i7 6gb kits haha).

Seeing the specs in the little sticker attached to it, I was hoping there wouldn't be any issues since they were CAS5-rated ram sticks like my Team Elite ones. Unsurprisingly (given their unknown brand), they were CAS5 only at ddr2-667 speeds and CAS6 at ddr2-800 T_T. So I had to run the Team Elite ones a notch lower at 333mhz, unless I loosen their timings to match Mister Zeppelin here.

The good thing is that I didn't really feel any performance decrease with the lower speed. It also eliminated my stuttering problems now in Crysis and I could even run it at DX9 64bit now ^^. Windows 7 feels a lot snappier now too, and a lot more responsive even with multiple things going on. Guess it isn't so bad if you run everything at stock

Mechwarrior 5 Debut Trailer

2009-07-10T01:02:00.003+08:00

I'm no big follower of the mechwarrior games, but I did play the Mechassault 1 and 2 on the original xbox and those were some pretty good games. I'm guessing a lot of PC and 360 fans will be anticipating this game a lot. I will too not because of the name, but because of this amazing reveal trailer that was just shown. If you ask me, I'd rate this the same as that old Killzone 2 video. Hopefully, its all ingame ^^

"GT 5 Will Set a New Standard"

2009-07-07T18:24:00.004+08:00

Bold words coming from the Gran Turismo 5 head Kazunori Yamauchi huh. Will be interesting seeing that Forza has always seemed to be ahead when it came to the actual racing element.

The short interview on this can be found by following the link below:

http://www.psu.com/GT5-to-set-new-standard,-says-Yamauchi-san--a007705-p0.php

Can't wait to see how this'll turn out.

IGN's Extended Project Milo Demo

2009-07-04T01:55:00.002+08:00

Want to see something funny? Remember Peter Molyneux's Project Milo demonstration for the Xbox 360 during e3? Well, here's IGN's extended version if you haven't seen it yet lol:

Sapphire Toxic HD 4890 Vapor-X

2009-07-04T01:33:00.005+08:00

A 1ghz core clock GPU?? Insane and unbelievable if you ask me, but that's what Sapphire's 4890 card is all about (with a teeny little OC touch). Defaulting with a monstrous 960mhz core using the 4890 core (RV790), what we have here is a card that rivals even the GTX 285 in some games, while trading blows with its current competitor, the GTX 275. Need a review? Check out guru3d and see how fast this card can go.

More Forza 3 Goodness

2009-07-04T01:23:00.004+08:00

Just saw a new video posted on http://forzamotorsport.net. Shows more gameplay and people's impressions during the E3 09 unveiling. Check it out ^^

http://forzamotorsport.net/en-us/media/videos/default.htm?mediaid=781#/video/781/

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Behind the Scenes

2009-07-03T11:02:00.003+08:00

A new behind-the-scenes clip for the upcoming Batman game was just released by Eidos. Have yet to watch it, but I'm eagerly awaiting the release of this game. Just might be the best batman game to come out. The free-form combat gameplay really catches my attention and I want to see how it'll play out once you have the controller in your hand.

Anyway, on with the video:

Video Games | Batman: Arkham Asylum | Behind the Scenes of Arkham Asylum

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Forza 3 Japanese Cars and Tracks

2009-07-01T23:11:00.004+08:00

Some sweet new images for Forza 3 popped up the other day showing some cars and tracks from the land of the rising sun.

Pretty pics eh. Coming closer and closer to GT5 now (well, in the bullshots department). More pics over here at Gamersyde.

The Age Old Question: Graphics or Gameplay?? (MTVAsia Blog Contest Entry)

2009-07-01T22:47:00.003+08:00

Whether you're hardcore or just a casual gamer, its easy for any game to catch your attention if the visuals scream pure awesomeness. I mean, just give Crysis one look for Christ's sake. That game is literally the epitome of graphics today. Despite being out in the market for 2 years now, it still raises the bar in terms of visuals and can drop a couple of jaws every time it's shown running on the highest settings. But does that mean it provides us the best gaming experience ever?

Try comparing today's games to those of say, during the Super Nintendo days. What you'll see are simple sprites and scaling effects versus your usual array of eye-popping high-res textures, light-blinding HDR and quality blur effects. Looks like a win for the games of present eh. But wait a second, why do the old school games seem more playable and, um.....fun? Gamers who were not present during the old-school days might say otherwise, but if you actually were one of those who owned a Super Nes or Genesis back then, you'll see how life-less games of today have become.

A lot of 16-bit games had the perfect balance when it came to showing off the hardware and providing crazy fun gameplay at the same time. Look at Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 3/6 for the RPG side. They both looked amazing for their time (they still do today if you don't mind sprites) and played fantastic, compared to a lot of Japanese Role Playing Games currently out. How about Sonic, Donkey Kong, Mario World, Super Metroid and a whole lot of other games. All these are still fun to play because their gameplay just keeps pulling you in.

Obviously if I had to choose one, gameplay is the way to go. Mind blowing graphics wear off over time, but good gameplay can provide a timeless experience. Its good that Microsoft and Sony are investing a lot into doing innovations with motion technology (eventhough it looks like they are just trying to take a stab at the Wii's success). New innovations could lead to better gameplay experiences. Let's just hope that this doesn't mean more of that casual trash the Wii's been throwing out lately.

New Final Fantasy Versus XIII Trailer

2009-04-16T20:17:00.002+08:00

Seems like a new in-game video of FF Vs XIII (by the Kingdom Hearts team) was included in the demo of FF XIII. There's isn't much going on in this video, other than 2 really incredible looking player models for an RPG walking and talking lol (near CGI-quality to me). I guess being a PS3 exclusive game will help this take over its multiplatform brother in the graphics department:

Final Fantasy XIII Demo Gameplay Videos

2009-04-16T20:02:00.004+08:00

Finally some gameplay videos of the much anticipated Final Fantasy XIII demo from Japan. Now, Final Fantasy has to be my most favorite game series so finally being able to watch some realtime gameplay of XIII really made me jump. Can't wait for the game to come out (damn it Square-Enix, as much as I love a 360 version coming out, I think it would be best if you guys focus on getting the PS3 completely up and running and localized as soon as possible). Anyway, here are the videos:

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for PS3??

2009-03-17T20:15:00.003+08:00

Well waddya know, despite being published by Microsoft with the very debatable "Only on Xbox" writing slapped in front of the case, looks like PS3 owners will still be getting their own version of the 360 exclusive title, Ninja Gaiden 2. Seen first in a leaked scan of the latest copy of Famitsu, Yosuke Hayashi (main man behind the first Sigma) will again be the one overseeing the remake (yes, it looks like it won't be just a simple port).

The best action game out there, now on the PS3

Here's what's been confirmed in Neogaf:

- It will be an upgraded version of Ninja Gaiden 2 (not a direct port)
- Set to release in autumn 2009
- The magazine will be reporting new elements in coming issues
- Producer and director: Yosuke Hayashi (From Sigma)
- Development: Team Ninja

New features in the PS3 version:
- New weapon - spiked hammer "Genma"
- New giant boss battles not in the 360 version
- New playable character - female ninja Ayane

Let's hope this becomes the definitive version since Ninja Gaiden 2 was riddled with bugs and whatnot. Will be interesting though how they'll go through with the remake since it looks like NG2 was stressing the 360 a lot (slowdowns at sub 720p resolutions.)

Fight Night Round 4 Debut Trailer (Ingame)

2009-03-14T05:27:00.002+08:00

Its been what, 2-3 years since the release of Fight Night Round 3 for the both the 360 and PS3 and I still whip out the game whenever friends come over. Its just that good. Not only is it striking visually, but the fast gameplay is so easy to pick-up and play that you could lose hours knocking out your buddies.

Now that EA has announced Part 4 to the Fight Night series, I'm all pumped now for the game. It seems they're working more on the animation now (player models only need to be tweaked a bit since they were already near perfect before) and it shows in the debut of it's 1st ingame trailer. Anyway, here's the video courtesy of IGN:

Phantasy Star Portable Now Available

2009-03-10T22:07:00.002+08:00

Fans of the acclaimed Phantasy Star Universe™ series can now explore Gurhal on-the-go via the PSP (PlayStation®Portable) system. Up to four friends will team up to unravel the exclusive new storyline that picks up where Phantasy Star Universe ends and before the start of PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus™.

The infestation of the alien SEED was thought to be under control by the end of PSU, but a new menace has stricken the Gurhal system. Alongside a new character named Vivienne, players must investigate the contamination and clear out the affected wildlife. In this intriguing new installment, players will delve deeper than ever before into the mysteries of Phantasy Star Universe.

Play-Asia

I used to like Phantasy Star Online before on the dreamcast, though I never tried playing it online due to our crappy dialup connection back then. Being a very big fan of the Genesis games, I was a little put off by the series' new direction but it was still nonetheless addicting.

With Phantasy Star Portable on the PSP (funny how they have the same acronym lol) out now, I guess I should try getting this game for some ad-hoc multiplayer sessions with my friends.

Resident Evil 5 Scores High

2009-03-06T21:44:00.004+08:00

Resident Evil 5 has been reviewed already by a couple of magazines here and there and has been scoring big (hopefully it gets review averages as high as its predecessor). Here's a couple of the scores it got:

Empire Online: 5/5
Famitsu: 48/50
Gamepro: 4.5/5
OPM: 5/5

Everything about the game just screams quality to me (don't care what others say about the controls, they work perfect for me). If the campaign runs long enough and there's a good amount of things to unlock, I'll be playing this game for a long time once its in my hands ^^

Resident Evil 5 Leaked

2009-03-06T21:38:00.003+08:00

Apparently, the retail version of Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360) got leaked to the internets for all to download (if you know where to look that is). I'm pretty positive this leak came from the version that comes with the Limited Edition Red Xbox 360 (was spotted in stores a few days ago).

Bioshock 2 First Details

2009-03-06T21:29:00.003+08:00

Looks like some new info was unearthed from the teaser site There's something in the Sea for the sequel to the hit 360/ps3 game.

According to details unearthed on the swanky flash site, the story revolves around the disappearance of a seven-year-old girl from a sleepy fishing town overlooking the coast.

The website states: "Local fisherman Eamon Clune, 44, and his wife Charlotte (32) were awoken by the sudden shattering of a window in the front room," adding, Moments later, his daughter Maura, age 7, screamed. Mr Clune rushed to investigate the noise only to notice the unknown attacker racing out of the broken window with 'incredible speed'”

"Due to the moonless night, Clune was unable to provide a description of the assailant. He notes that the attacker was thin, above average height and wore some kind of 'red light.'"

Read the rest here from Playstation Universe.

Bioshock had to be one of the best games I've played on the 360 so I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the sequel.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope US release

2009-02-25T00:10:00.002+08:00

The much anticipated US release of the 360 RPG, Star Ocean: The Last Hope will be taking place tomorrow and damn, its good to have some new RPGs coming out for the system. Despite all the talk of sub-par resolutions, disc-swapping issues and some questionable differences between the US and import versions (I mean, why didn't they include an option to use the anime portraits? I'm sure a lot of fans would have appreciated this), its still my most anticipated game now other than Killzone 2 since RPGs are basically the genre the love the most.

Hopefully it lives up being a solid RPG since the 360's been dying for a good one from the genre (we are still a long way from FF 13).

Quake Live now Open!

2009-02-24T23:58:00.004+08:00

You read that right folks. For all those who weren't able to snatch a beta key, ID is finally moving Quake Live from closed to open beta stage this Feb 24. There's a timer on the site (7 hours left here) so you know when to start fragging online.

For those of you living under a rock, Quake Live is basically Quake 3 online with some fixes here and there, running straight in you web browser (IE and Firefox for now I believe), all for free! I was able to get into the beta a month or 2 ago and it definitely is Quake 3 in all its glory. Only problem was the missing servers here in Asia, which meant hellish ping times for me (3-second delay anyone?). Hopefully, the people behind this amazing app realize this and put out servers here so we can start joining in as well.

Visit the link below for the website:

Quake Live

F.E.A.R. 2

2009-02-17T03:14:00.002+08:00

Just got my hands on the latest installment to the FEAR series (xbox 360 version) and I'm having a blast with it! It's no Killzone 2 that's for sure, but it still holds up if you ask me. I'll get a review up as soon as I'm done saving my ass from that freaky psychic Alma.

New Trailers Out Now: Resident Evil 5 & God of War 3

2009-02-14T07:39:00.003+08:00

Such a wonderful day it is today eh? Over at this part of the Earth, it's Valentines already and I'm about to spend quality time with my girlfriend today to go see some hot air balloons take off to skies near here ^^. Before we leave though, give me 5 minutes to post up info on some new trailers for the up coming Resident Evil 5 and God of War 3 games.

To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with the God of War one. Mostly because it just looks like a higher-res version of God of War 2. It's still pretty much a year away though, so the developers should have enough time to get this game looking much better. Resident Evil 5 on the other hand looks just as stunning as ever. I don't know what sort of magic Capcom has under their crazy multiplatform engine, but it's doing wonders with this game.

Anyway, the trailers can be found at gamersyde.com or just follow the links below to go directly to each one:

God of War 3 Trailer

Resident Evil 5 Trailer

And with that, I'm off to my date. Hope you guys have a wonderful Valentines Day too :)

New Bleach Title again?

2009-02-10T23:21:00.003+08:00

I'm a big fan of anime but I admit, I've never watched the Bleach series yet (I mean, I've seen a couple of episodes here and there, but I never really followed the series). Maybe I should start watching it though since it seems to have a big following with all the bleach games coming out:

A surefire candidate for most milked series on the PSP, Bleach will be receiving yet another adaptation on the portable. Sony made the announcement today via a newly opened official website.

Bleach: Heat the Soul 6 is, despite the number, actually the seventh Bleach game for the PSP (in addition to the Heat the Soul games, the system saw Soul Carnival late last year). While little is known at the moment, it seems the game will retain the tag-based fighting system that debuted in part 5.

Aside from that, we'll have to wait for Sony to share comment. A short video is available at the official site, so interested parties should check there for now.

Heat the Soul 6 is currently without a final release date.

Dead Rising 2 Officially Confirmed!

2009-02-10T22:58:00.006+08:00

Last Friday I believe, a video with a familiar atmosphere was leaked to the internets and a lot speculated and hoped that it was from the upcoming sequel to the Xbox 360 launch exclusive. Turns out all them guesses were true and we're going to get a new Dead Rising game on both the Xbox 360 and (due to Capcom's multiplatform stance now) PS3.

This is straight from www.DeadRising2.net:

We've been speculating it for over a year and while rumors were rapid in the past few weeks, Capcom has officially confirmed that Dead Rising 2 will be coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

In Dead Rising 2, players will once again slaughter their way through thousands upon thousands of the living dead, using a plethora of weapons to butcher them. This time, however, instead of battling zombies in a shopping mall like the original Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2 takes place in a Las Vegas-inspired city loaded with casinos and flesh-eating blackjack dealers and zombified showgirls. Check out the screenshots right HERE to get an idea of what we're talking about. Some other zombies we've spotted in the new screens just released are construction workers, ladies dressed up for clubbing, and police officers.

Capcom says that Dead Rising 2 will take the franchise to a "new level of zombie-killing fun with tens of thousands of zombies" and a chance to kill them in fun ways in the gambling paradise of Fortune City.

Dead Rising 2 is set several years after the zombie invasion of Willamette, Colorado. Unfortunately, Capcom tells us, that zombie virus was not contained at the end of the first game and spread unchecked throughout the U.S. Dead Rising 2 depicts a country where zombie outbreaks continue to strike.

Providing the player with hundreds of weapons was a big part of the original game. In the new screens, Dead Rising 2's protagonist can be seen wielding a baseball bat, a giant-display cell phone, and an electric guitar.

Dead Rising 2 is being handled by a different developer from the first game, Blue Castle Games, who have developed games such as 'The BIGS' and 'MLB 2K8'.

On another note, the Wii edition of the original game, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop comes out February 24, 2009.

Here are some new screenshots of the game:

Looks pretty damn good eh. Capcom's multiplatform engine sure is a beast and one of the better ones this generation (better than UE3 imo since it looks good on both 360 and PS3). I still play Dead Rising 1 now and then despite the brutal Save System so that should say something about how much I'll like the sequel.

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo This Week

2009-02-10T22:39:00.010+08:00

More demo love for you and me ^^

TOM CLANCY'S H.A.W.XTM DEMO AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 11 ON XBOX LIVE® AND FEBRUARY 12 ON PLAYSTATION® NETWORK

LONDON, UK – February 10, 2009 – Today Ubisoft announces that an official Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X™ demo will be available for download for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network beginning on February 11, 2009 and for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system on the PLAYSTATION® network beginning on February 12, 2009. The demo will be also available for Windows-based PCs beginning on February 26, 2009.

In this demo, players will dominate the skies for the first time and battle planes, tanks and amphibious assaults and have the opportunity to dogfight with other elite pilots in a stunning panoramic boss scene.

Key features of the H.A.W.X demo:

o Co-op enabled for up to 4 players – Jump in/Jump out

o Gain experience points and unlock up to three real, licensed planes in the demo:
o F-16A Fighting Falcon
o SU-35 Super Flanker
o AV-8B Harrier II

o Choose between two different game modes:
o Normal – Default control type
o Expert – Allows full control over the aircraft in “Assistance Off” mode

o Two heart-pounding missions:
o Operation: Off Certification (Training mode)
o Learn the skills of an elite pilot in “Assistance Off” mode and pull extreme maneuvers
o Operation: Glass Hammer (Rio De Janeiro)
o Take flight over GeoEye technology (the world’s best satellite data), and witness Brazil like never before
o Learn to use the Enhanced Reality System in “Assistance On” mode, where your plane’s computer calculates the best interception course for you to follow to attack an enemy, evade a missile or hit a ground target

Not really a fan of the flight-plane genre but I'll give this a try. More free demos is better than nothing.

Oh yeah, there's also a new trailer over at Gamersyde.

UPDATE:
Seems like PS3 owners will have to wait for a couple of days before getting a chance to test fly this new demo.

"The demo was due to be released today on PS3, but it has apparently suffered with technical difficulties. A post on Ubisoft's Twitter page states: "HAWX PS3 demo delayed to Feb 26th, due to the late discovery of an unexpected issue. We apologize for the situation."

Saw this over at http://www.psu.com. Hopefully this doesn't affect the overall quality of the game for PS3 owners.

Crysis Review

2009-02-10T14:47:00.002+08:00

"All images used belong to their respective owners. I will be putting up my own once I get the chance to collect a couple for this review."

Better late than never I guess. My first review is going to be for this one game the entire PC World has been craving for.

Crysis is all about its visuals. Yes, the nanosuit abilities are a nice touch to the gameplay, but no doubt people are buying this game just for the graphics. And who is to blame? One quick look at any screenshot of the game and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Developer Crytek has crafted some of the most finest visuals in a game ever. Just like they're first entry into game development, Far Cry, Crysis literally sets the bar for videogame graphics. Gears of War may have had some really nice texture work and Uncharted might have really good foliage and shaders, but Crysis just seems to have the entire package down. The only downside? System requirements and in-game performance. I ran the game on a pretty average computer and well, it didn't exactly run as good as I've expected. Granted I played it on some pretty demanding settings since yeah I admit, I got the game to see the graphics as well. Amazingly, I was able to fight my through the slideshows produced by the ice level and that final carrier map and made it to the end.

So how was the experience? Despite some very low framerates and sometimes questionable AI, it was great!. It was fun running around the jungles and stuff thanks to some really nice physics with the vegetation. The engine allows you to interact with the plants unlike any other game I've seen. Certain trees can literally be shot down and bushes and other foliage react to nearby explosions realistically. You can even tear down little sheds and buildings with explosives, tanks and other vehicles.

Other than the amazing physics at work, the overall atmosphere of the game will literally make your jaw drop hard to the floor. The sun creates convincing light rays every time its obstructed. Day turns to night and vice-versa. Misty fog gathers around when night turns to morning. Dynamic clouds litter the sky during a sunny afternoon. Realistic depth of field effects come into play while zooming in with your weapon sights. Object motion blur simulates how the eye blurs objects at high speeds. Ambient occlusion combined with the engine's dynamic lighting and HDR gives off an almost realistic look to how the world is lit, and allows literally every object to produce a dynamic soft shadow of its own. Etc etc etc....All these elements fall in the right places to create the most convincing game world ever built.

But enough talk of the game's looks. How does the gameplay fare you ask? Its just your standard FPS-type of game with the added nanosuit powers. The nanosuit gives you 4 modes that can alter your style a bit: Strength mode, Speed mode, Shield/Defense mode, and Cloak mode. All these are pretty self explanatory and are pretty much needed if you want to survive. The Cloak mode though will be your most powerful (and cheapest ability if you ask me) mode as it grants you full invisibility (ala Predator). You could abuse this and almost always get through tight spots with it. The only catch is that using a weapon disables your clock and drains your nanosuit energy instantly so you got to be careful when taking down groups with it since enemy soldiers sometimes do a good job at flanking and shooting you down.

Now my only gripe with the game is the computer AI. Games have come a long way already in providing realistic AI, and with games like FEAR pushing the bar in terms of how enemies should react, I was hoping Crysis would at least get this aspect of the game right. And it does, sometimes. The korean soldiers do a good job at listening to audio cues and will try to surround and flank you. They shoot, throw grenades, even man vehicles. Seems pretty good at first but once you play around longer, you'll start to see some inconsistencies in how they behave. These soldiers tend to get stuck in walls and you could sometimes even see them clipping through buildings. They also react too slow if you ask me. You could knock out a couple of soldiers who are standing just a few feet apart and they wouldn't notice anything. They also seem to have an ungodly amount of health when shooting them from far. At one point, I unloaded an entire magazine clip on just one soldier (and I was sure they were connecting since you have this odd "thud" sound that plays whenever a hit registers from your gun) and that enemy was still running around wondering where to run and hide. These subtract a bit of points from the overall game since everything from the presentation side is so well polished. Well, I guess it's improssible to have a perfect game anyway.

My final verdict for this game? If you're a fan of the FPS genre and a hardcore PC owner with the need to buy the ultimate game just to see how many frames your thousand-dollar rig can pump out, by all means get this game. For the average Joe with the average computer, think twice because this game will bring your computer to its knees (and trust me, you do not want to run this game at anything less than medium-high. How good this game looks at high is how bad it looks at low). Plus the AI issues and forgettable story might turn a couple off. It's still an enjoyable game though thanks to the Nanosuit and breathtaking technology at display. Hopefully, Crytek works more on the gameplay-side of things in future games since they got the technology all right and perfect (well, a bit of optimizing too wouldn't hurt).

Demo Overload!

2009-02-07T02:41:00.008+08:00

I have always been a fan of demos for games before release. I know a lot of people would prefer not to spoil themselves before getting a hold of the next big game coming out, but that doesn't apply to me. Demos are here to help you decide if buying a game will be worth it or not. Plus, they're good for trying something new once in a while, especially if the demo is worth it. And I must say, the demos out now for sure will catch a lot of people's attention.

Resi 4-type gameplay with Next Gen Graphics? Sign me up!

Resident Evil 5 and Killzone 2, together with other titles to look forward to like FEAR 2 and Halo Wars, should have their demos out by now. I personally have only tried the RE demo and I must say, that's one game I'll be buying for sure (this has to be best looking multiplatform now, Capcom sure has built an amazing engine). Halo Wars would be my second next purchase, though I still have to try out the demo since I'm a bit skeptical on how the controls will work (been hearing good things about it though so I hope everything's good).

Check out the best looking FPS game (yes, better than Crysis in motion IMO)

As for Killzone 2, this game sure is making me want to own a PS3 now. Hopefully, some miracle comes my way and a PS3 would find its place in our console collection at home ^^.

Star Ocean: Second Evolution

2009-02-05T03:04:00.006+08:00

Saw this on the PSP section of DCEMU. Looks like you can now get your hands on a copy of the US version of Star Ocean: Second Evolution for the PSP. Great news for people like me who have yet to experience the sequel to the SNES RPG, though I would most likely get it later (I'm still working my way through the PSP remake). Hopefully, I finish both before Last Hope comes out.

New from Success hk who ship worldwide.

Space Date 366: A young Federation officer finds himself transported to a mystical planet, where he is suddenly anointed as the Hero of Light. He begins a journey to fulfill a prophecy and save a newfound race. Continuing the franchise for STAR OCEAN fans, this PSP release of the classic RPG delivers the same epic storytelling and dazzling art style. Set 20 years after the events of its predecessor, STAR OCEAN: Second Departure receives special treatment in its PSP incarnation to further entice gamers to relive the adventure. The title takes the next step with fully animated movies, all-new character designs, extra playable characters, fully voiced dialogue, and more.

Source

Where's the updates??

2009-01-20T13:52:00.003+08:00

Apparently, I haven't been putting too much effort into my blog. I dunno if this is some kind of sickness that plagues first time bloggers (kinda like when I tried making a game with RPG maker XP back then, I lost motivation pretty damn early in its development) but I hope I can make up. If I don't start posting more articles in the coming days, guess it's better if I lay off this blog permanently (hopefully things don't come to this). See you later guys!

Dead Rising 2

2008-11-10T16:13:00.003+08:00

Developer Blue Castle is rumored to be working on a sequel to the zombie-filled Xbox 360 launch title, Dead Rising. I dunno what other games Blue Castle has worked on but hopefully they don't do a messed up job with this one since I was hooked to Dead Rising. Here's a snippet of the article I found the news from:

A source close to Canadian developer Blue Castle Games has told Eurogamer that the studio is making a sequel to Dead Rising.

Rumours that the Vancouver-based outfit was working on the zombie project first emerged last year, but neither the developer nor publisher Capcom has confirmed anything on the record. But while Eurogamer was on a secret mission in Vancouver last week, we were told by a source familiar with the project that Capcom has indeed farmed out development to the Western team.

The source said: "Everyone's really excited; the team has obviously seen the rumours and it's been hard to keep quiet, but they can't wait to show off the game."

Read the full article here:
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=285199

Nintendo DS Version 3 (DSi)

2008-10-04T06:52:00.004+08:00

Looks like Nintendo wants to come out with a 3rd iteration to their insanely popular handheld (damn, this thing just flies in Japan. Seems like every person in a japanese family has 1 or 2). This time called the DSi, it'll include a couple of new features compared to the DS Lites we have now. Here's the lowdown:

* No more GBA slot, the size has been reduced by 12%.
* 2x 0.3 Megapixel (640x480) camera (1 in front and 1 at the back)
* Built-in memory
* On-board browser
* SD card slot
* Photo and sound editor

What, no GBA slot? Well it seems Nintendo had to cut that out in order to get the DSi to have all these new features, while at the same time getting it to become even slimmer than its predecessors. Not really a big deal if you ask me since mostly everyone in the Universe has a DS already so they could still use that for GBA games, and get this new one if they need the new features.

The DSi goes on sale at Japan on November 1 for 18,900 yen. That's about $185. No details yet on a US release.

EGM November 2008 Reviews

2008-10-03T08:24:00.005+08:00

Straight out of Neogaf:

Reviews:

Wario Land: Shake it! - C+, A-, C+
Good: Classic Wario playability, sumptuous artwork
Bad: Lackluster levels, tired design

De Blob - B
Good: Simple, colorful fun
Bad: Too-similar levels, unnecessary motion controls

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - B+, B-, B
Good: Endlessly satisfying destruction
Bad: Gimped co-op, lacks polish

Megaman 9 - B+
Good: Old-school aesthetic and challenge
Bad: Difficulty sometimes borders on masochistic

Silent Hill: Homecoming - B, C+, B-
Good: Silent Hill never looked so good
Bad: Slow framerate, clunky controls

Fracture - C-
Good: Terraforming works well enough
Bad: Ridiculously derivative

Midnight Club: Los Angeles - B
Good: Solid controls, addictive leveling system, amazing re-creation of LA
Bad: inconsistent difficulty, some visual glitches and framerate

NBA Live 09 - B
Good: Daily roster updates
Bad: Way too many blocks

NBA 2K9 - A-
Good: 5-on-5 online games
Bad: Complicated controls

FIFA 09 - B+
Good: Improves a lot of stuff that FIFA 09 did wrong
Bad: Goalkeeper A.I. is still frustratingly incompetent

Infinite Undiscovery - B, B, C+
Good: Seamless real-time battles
Bad: Clunky menus and interfaces

Rock Band 2 - A-, A-, A
Good: Enormous setlist
Bad: Unlocking songs is taxing

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood - A GOTM
Good: Fantastic action-lite RPG in the spirit of Super Mario RPG series
Bad: BioWare's buyout by EA may mean no sequels

The Legend of Kage 2 - B-
Good: Classic ninja gameplay
Bad: Rudimentary level design

Away: Shuffle Dungeon - B-
Good: Clever core gimmick with solid action on top
Bad: Not much going on beyond the gimmick

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - A-
Good: Deep gameplay, spooky graphics and music
Bad: Confusing puzzles, cut-and-paste levels

Kirby: Super Star Ultra - A-
Good: Plenty of powers to absorb
Bad: Forgettable DS-specific features

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise - B+
Good: Addictive as always!
Bad: Addictive as always...

Star Ocean: The First Departure - B+
Good: Addictive item creation, relationship bulding
Bad: Archaic storyline and presentation

Spore - B+
Good: Seeing you and your buddies' creations
Bad: An imperfect mix of genres

Source

Killzone 2 Online Beta Gameplay Videos

2008-10-02T19:08:00.003+08:00

Saw this post at ps3forums about some quality beta videos of Killzone 2. Here they are straight from youtube:

Gears of War 2 New Images

2008-10-01T11:35:00.015+08:00

Gamersyde got a hold of some new screenshots for Gears of War 2 which show of just how amazing the detail is in the environments. If you ask me, this is really a step up from the original Gears of War. Here are some of the images showing that detail:

Source

Review Time

2008-09-23T20:09:00.005+08:00

Starting today, I'll be reviewing some of the games I currently own while waiting for the newer ones to be released. I've got quite a number of titles here so I was thinking, why not do some reviews for them? Wouldn't hurt for me to revisit games like Gears of War for the 360 or Twilight Princess on the Wii.

(Speaking of Zelda, damn I still haven't finished that game yet. Guess this is the right time to complete it. That and Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Tales of Vesperia......Oh man, I just realized how many RPGs I still have yet to finish. Wonder if I'll be able to go through them all lol).

Crysis Warhead Launch Trailer - Maximum Goodness!

2008-09-22T01:12:00.008+08:00

Looks like the game (or expansion) all you hardcore PC enthusiasts have been waiting for just got released. Now, I'm not exactly a PC guy myself but I'm just as excited to try this game after finishing the original Crysis. Hopefully, Crytek learned a lot from their previous game and improved the performance with this expansion.

Here's the launch trailer for now: Warhead Launch Trailer

Once I get the game, I'll make sure to post my impressions :)

Introductions, introductions, introductions....

2008-09-14T03:18:00.003+08:00

Welcome to my little blog here called The Cat Gamer. Before I start writing any articles and stuff on the game industry though, I would just like to do a quick introduction about the blog.

So, who is the Cat Gamer? Well honestly, I couldn't think up of a good site name for reviewing games while setting up this blog. So I kind of thought of using the words "Games" and "Cats" for the blog name since I like both a lot. And so, after more or less 30 minutes of brainstorming trying to figure out what the heck I should name my blog, I ended up with a really simple "cat-gamer" name T_T. Funny how I couldn't think of such a simple name in the beginning. It could have been named better, but I guess I'm just not that good with coming up with original names.

Well anyway, you might have the assumption of a blog filled with stories and photos of a cat playing and reviewing games. That would be a pretty fun concept to do, and yes I might stick a pic or 2 of my cat in here looking at a psp or getting itself warm with a 360, but I'll focus more on what's important, and that would be game reviews and news about what's going on in this big world we like to call the Gaming Industry.

Oh yeah, about the overall layout, I'm still working on the site's look. Since this is my first time trying out a blog with blogspot, I'm still getting a feel with all the stuff you can do here and there. Hopefully, I'll be able to come up with a decent design to the blog ASAP.

So sit back, sit tight and I'll try my best to get you guys updated with all the latest gaming info I can get hold of.