Why am I holding out on next gen

never was amazed by the lunch of the so called next gen consoles. Not only were the graphical updates normal, the lack of good games made the case even worse. At times I wished I had atleast one of them but soon I realize that spending the money on a useless consoles with no real games is no wise choice considering all the good games are coming out on PC with better graphics or on Xbox 360/PS3 which I both own.

I apologies if I offended any one but for me, and please take that as an opinion is no reason to buy them yet. Not when PC gaming is still around. So let us start with PS4:

PS4_Logo

Believe it or not, I actually skipped PS3 even though I loved PS2 and PSone. Well I have a few games like Initial D but I did not give it a serious go. All that changed when PS4 was released. At first I was skeptical and with my problem of no user change or region change things didn’t look good on me going toward Sony again. After looking around more I started liking it to the point of almost getting one.

What happened?

Two things: Region and games. Where I live, Pal is dominated the market with no sign of NTSC. Now I know that I can continue doing the thing I already do which is getting my games from Amazon and eBay but having the option to buy cheap games is always a factor. The other problem is games. Apart from The last of us remastered which happens to be also on PS3, Rayman Legends and The Evil Within of which all of them aavailableon Xbox 360 and PC there are zero games that I care about. Well technically The Order is on my list but apart from that, nothing.

xbox-one-logo-wallpaper

Xbox 360 was my main gaming console this gen -PC not included- so it was only natural to jump on the next Xbox. Sadly the same problem as the above; no games. Lower resolution aside, the Xbox One had nothing to offer. Forza 5 and what? I am patiently waiting for Gears of War 4 but until released, there is zero interest in it for me.

So what will I do?

Build a new PC for less. I triad upgrading my old rig which by the way plays Batman Arkham Origins fine with extra ram but things went horrible fast. Slow PC, not booting and so on. Yes PC gaming has its downs but until the next gen starts offering real games count me out.

My thoughts on Windows 10

windows 10

Microsoft surprisingly announced Windows 10 totally skipping the 9th version. Technically windows 8.1 is a stand alone windows so that could be counted as 9 but oh well. Any way, my opinion on why Microsoft made the decision to drop the 9th version name and jump straight to 10; Corporate market.

But before I get into that I would like to bring forward my two main reasons to upgrade.

  • Resources usage: I had XP for God knows how long before upgrading to 7 skipping Vista (Well I tested it but nothing serious). When I upgraded to 8 I noticed increased performance and smoothness in games. And since my main usage of the PC is gaming (I know I sound stupid but it is what is its) I welcomed the upgrade with open arms. Now will the same apply to Windows 10? I am yet to discover.
  • Compatibility: Software and games. Drivers seems to auto load and games and software that I have all supported. Nothing to complain about.

Now why did Windows 8 do so horrible or should I say not as expected on the corp side? Ignorance and touch phobia. See, Microsoft made a huge and stupid mistake of auto loading the touch interface with every restart and that scared the corps away. The problem with most corp including our own is that they fear change, especially when the current setup is working fine.

The removal of the Start button was another disaster which angered me personally for about 3 days and then I moved on with my life worrying about other stuff. Corps didn’t like that hence another reason to hate Windows 8. Another valid reasons is that some legacy software is not compatible with Windows 8. In-house software development wasn’t big on 8 and so we never moved.

Now did Microsoft do the right thing jumping to 10 to further itself away from 8 as much as possible? My answer is yes and no. Yes for the corps that know nothing but counting and 10 seems further than 9 so they might give it a chance especially that the Start button is returning. No, as hatters gonna hate. Many may see 10 slimier to 8 and skip it all together regardless.

At the end of the day, companies upgrade and will have to jump to the next thing as support ends for older windows so we will see how things play out. My concern; make it as smooth and less system demanding and I’m sold. Let me know what ya all think. Adam signing off.

Lights off, Football Manager is coming to the big screen

Football_Manager_2015_Sega

That’s right, Sega Football Manager is coming to cinemas on October 7th.

“The documentary isn’t our story – it’s the story of the people who escape to the alternative reality of being a football manager, and the effect this has had on their lives. It’s also the story of how a computer game made by football fans has become a part of the world it set out to replicate,” says Miles Jacobson, Studio Director of Sports Interactive. “But it’s not just for people who play – it’s also for people who’ve ever wondered why others spend so much time escaping into this world.”

Not sure if serious but this could be fun to watch. A documentary on a football game. Wasn’t expecting this at all.

Microsoft could be buying Mojang

mojang

Latest latest rumblers claim that Microsoft will be buying the minecraft creator, Mojang. If that is true I expect it to go Xbox One/360/PC exclusive as it makes sense to put it on Microsoft controlled hardware except the PC which is running windows as a gaming platform.

What will the shift mean to all the mine craft fans if true? A logical solution is to keep the already out game updated but add exclusive worthy updates or DLC to the Xbox, even make it free or cheaper like Steam is doing with Left 4 Dead 2. Microsoft is a multi billion company and needs money to stay at the top and buying Mojang must have been about business and not ego.

We wait for more news and or conformation regarding this.

Daily Pickups: Animal Forest Ninntendo 64

While shopping on eBay I came across these collector items and couldn’t pass the deal. While I am little tight on cash as I need to spend it on my car and bills, little retro joy couldn’t hurt.

animal_forest

Not many know that Animal Crossing as well as some other GameCube games were also released on the Nintendo 64 in Japan. 64 was still popular in Japan that Nintnedo decided to support it with some of the GameCube ports like the above Animal Forest (Japanese name for Animal Crossing).

Although I’m still not sure how I will be able to play it considering that everything is in Japanese. Yes I know the game and yes I will most likely make my way around but some stuff just needs reading and answering. Never the less, this is something I wanted for sometime. There are some difreeance between this and the GameCube port, listed bellow and taken from the Animal Crossing wikia:The real-time clock made a new feature for games.

  • A player catches a Herabuna, an Animal Forest-only fish.
  • Questions are asked to determine your look.
  • The Able Sisters and their shop are not in Animal Forest; thus, designs are not available.
  • When fish are released in the N64 game, they bounce along the ground and into the water instead of diving straight in.
  • Insects are not restricted by acres and can freely wander into other acres. Banded Dragonflies and similar, airborne insects cannot fly too far out to sea in the N64 game, but in Animal Crossing there is no limit.
  • Some of the wallpapers and carpets from Animal Forest were redesigned or removed in Animal Crossing.
  • Some of the clothing from Animal Forest, for example, the N Logo shirt (G Logo in Animal Crossing), are redesigned or removed in Animal Crossing.
  • Two sets of stationery from Animal Forest, the New Year’s Card and the Fortune Paper, are redesigned.
  • The holidays from Animal Forest are either changed or removed in Animal Crossing.
  • Tom Nook wears slightly different uniforms.
  • The Wishing Well from Animal Crossing is a Bell Shrine in Animal Forest. On New Year’s Day, instead of tossing a coin in the fountain, the player shakes the thick rope in the middle and the bells ring.
  • The input keyboard from Animal Crossing is a dial that contains the letters, numbers, and symbols that appear on the screen in Animal Forest.
  • The dial input system in Animal Forest (taken from a fan-translated copy)
  • In Animal Crossing, Gulliver would give the player a rare furniture piece for saving him. In Animal Forest, he gives the player a random furniture piece.
  • In Animal Crossing, three items could be stored in container furniture such as dressers, wardrobes, etc. In Animal Forest, only one item can be stored in those kinds of furniture.
  • In Animal Crossing, a player’s initial home had a wooden box that had a college rule journal on top. In Animal Forest, this is not included, so this means this feature was either not included or both items have to be bought from Nook.
  • In Animal Crossing, the catalog has a section called “Handhelds” where umbrellas, pinwheels, fans, balloons and tools could be ordered. In Animal Forest, this section is called “Umbrellas” and only umbrellas can be ordered from that section. This means pinwheels, fans, balloons, and tools cannot be ordered from the catalog.
  • In Animal Crossing, the player could store multiple airchecks in Stereos, Radios, etc. In Animal Forest, only one aircheck could be stored in them.
  • Buildings such as Tom Nook’s shop, the Post Office, and the Dump have slightly redesigned logos in Animal Crossing.
  • There is no Museum, thus there is no Blathers. The Faraway Museum still exists, and fossils can be sent there for identification.
  • Taking a trip on Animal Forest requires the player have 1 Controller Pak to save travel data on, and two Controller Paks are needed to travel directly. In Animal Crossing, an extra Memory Card is used to save travel data, and the player can travel directly to the other town if 2 Memory Cards with town data are in use at the same time.
  • e-Reader support was added to the Japanese and North American releases of Animal Crossing.
  • Mayor Tortimer was not a character yet, and no gifts could be obtained from him.
  • During the Cherry Blossom Festival, all the villagers sit on mats like the Japanese do.
  • Katrina wore a white headband instead of the normal veil that she wears.
  • Instead of buying stationary as a pack of four, only one piece of paper can be bought at a time.
  • In Animal Crossing, a Money Rock appears for every player in a village each day. In Animal Forest there is only one money rock per town per day, no matter how many people are playing.
  • There was no tropical island and there was no Kapp’n.
  • Villagers were not affected if a player hit them with a net.
  • Blanca does not exist.
  • The live version of DJ K.K. uses a different set of guitar riffs, which were most likely changed due to their similarities with the song “Get Ready for This” by 2 Unlimited.
  • Stella2
  • Stella’s original design.
  • Items looks different when on the ground. Stationery is a paper bag with a leaf on it, clothing are treasure chests, and tools are toolboxes. These aesthetics were later re-used for Animal Crossing: Wild World.
  • Mystery items for sale at Nooks. (early January?)
  • Bluebear’s and Stella’s original designs were also slightly different than now, and their appearances were tweaked to the current design in Dōbutsu no Mori + and Animal Crossing. Some of the other villagers have gone under these tweaks as well.
  • There were no coconuts in Animal Forest.
  • When getting bad fortunes identified by Katrina, slightly different effects happen. This can include tripping and falling half as frequently or less malfunctioning of the friendship of other villagers.

One thing is for sure, I will be using the Expansion Pak to displayed the game in a higher resolution 640×480 from 320×240. I will update you all how it goes along with my progress. Very excited to play this soon.

animal_forest_2

The new 3DS will still be Region Locked

new_3ds

Not sure if anybody is surprised but it is now confirmed that the new, more powerful 3DS that is coming out in Japan next month will still be region locked. I have hated region lock all my life and used Region free carts on Saturn, Dreamcast and even GameCube for imported games so see where people are coming from. Now Nintendo on the other hand argues that specific region adjustments must be made in order to make the game region friendly. My take is very simple; Let the people decide. If a person wants to buy a Japanese Sonic Adventure 2 for his GameCube like I did, let him do it. It is up to me to decide if I want the Japanese version or wait for an american one.

The argument supporting Region locking is that companies spend allot of cash translating and localizing games and may end up losing money if people started importing then ignoring the local versions. The answer is very simple but requre the developers spend little extra; Make the game with both English and Japanese text as an option and before you start: You are asking too much, this game did it!

Metal_Gear_Solid_The_Twin_Snakes_(JP)

This is 2014, Sony and Microsoft did it so why cant Nintendo? Must they always lag behind? One of the reasons Nintendo is in the position it is, is because they refuse to acknowledge anything but themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nintendo like the next guy but things must change before its too late. Crossing my fingers for a better, region free future in gaming.

Adam plays Sonic 4 Episode II

Sonic 4I‘m on fire; after completing episode I, I started and completed Episode II in one go and boy, was I surprised. This game is what episode I should have been. Everything is improved, definitely a better episode.

Graphics

Sonic 2014-09-03 00-45-00-784

The graphics are improved with better textures and colors. The options now allow for higher resolution as well. Not to say this is running on another engine but things has improved.

More 3D objects in the backgrounds, jumping back and fourth inside the picture makes the game feel more 3D while keeping the 2D game play intact. Once again, not a game changer but a welcome addition to an already improved game.

Score 5/5

Gameplay

sonic 4The picture above is something I wanted ever since Sonic the Hedgehog 2, finally introduced in Episode II. You can now tag along with Tails “controlled by the game or player 2” and preform combined moves like flaying and destroying enemies.

The stages look better and smother as well as the whole game. Each stage looks unique and well designed and unlikely episode I, interesting. Sonic now runs in a much believable way unlike the first episode. New type of enemies and stage obstacles were one of the welcomed additions as well. There is one annoying part however, just like episode I; some parts of the stage are very hard. Don’t get me wrong, I love challenging games but these parts feel over powered and annoying. Rest assure, they are in small number and rare.

Apart from that, the game looks good and plays good.

Score 5/5

Sound

Sonic 2014-09-03 01-05-56-774The game sounds did not change, however the music is better and have Sega feel to it like the nights into dreams alike stage above. Nothing significant to report here.

Score 4/5

Conclusion

Sonic 2014-09-03 01-03-30-705A much better Episode than the first. A must play for any Sega Sonic fan. Unlikely Episode I, this game looks and feels like a new chapter and not a mega drive Sonic remake. Get it dirt cheap on any platform including the IOS which I will review sometime in the feature.

Adam Plays Sonic 4 Episode I

Sonic_vis 2014-08-31 23-38-00-204I will not try to hide that I was and still am the biggest Sega fanboy although I slowed down by the time Xbox 360 and PS3 hit the market. Truth be told, Sega of today is no longer the Sega of Saturn/Dreamcast era. Never the less, great games do come out from time to time and Sonic 4 was a great attempt on bringing old school fans back home. I admit, I bought the game when it came out but never played it seriously until last night before going to bed. I will do my best to summarize everything in unbiased natural review.

Graphics

Sonic_vis 2014-08-31 23-38-44-253

The graphics look beautiful although some aliasing is visible. I am running the game on mixed resolution and settings and everything looks great. The new cartoonish style is a nice addition to the series. Some of the objects in the background are done in 3D and will have nice effects. The stages look detailed and sonic alike. Apart from the little aliasing I have no complain.

4/5

Gameplay

Sonic_vis 2014-09-01 00-10-18-192

Well, what can I say.. The gameplay is good but not on the same level as sonic and knuckles. Sonic starts moving in a wired way and feels slow to start. He kinda walks faster without moving his hands which results in a strange movement. The gameplay itself is not glitched or anything but feels slower due to this problem. Everything else including enemies attack looks ok. Sonic’s homing attack feels out of place at first but you will get used to it with time, not as smoth as I hoped it would be. The 3 act per zone returns much like the first Sonic game with a fourth being a boss fight.

The game works with Xbox 360 controller right out the box.

3/5

Sound

Sonic_vis 2014-08-31 23-48-23-953

The game’s music is ok but not great. Personally, I’m not a fan although the game sounds are Sonic type. The music feels repetitive and uninteresting, at least to me.

3/5

Conclusion

Sonic_vis 2014-08-31 23-40-55-816

Overall, the game is good. Could have been better but its a good start for episode I. There things to do like leader boards, completing the zones faster and emeralds. Some new eliminates and puzzles were added as well as old school not so great stuff like the Night Casino zone which is full of annoying paths. There are some puzzles which are easy once figure out what to do. Basically, its  Sonic 1 remake. Most of the stages resamble the first Sonic game remade in 3D. Not necessary a good thing but cant really complain. The game is very cheap and die hard Sega/Sonic fans will definitely need to pick this up be it on PS3, Xbox 360 or Steam.

Sonic_vis 2014-08-31 23-45-45-606

New more powerful 3DS is coming this October

3ds

Neoseeker just reported that a new more powerful 3DS with extra Ram and better CPU is coming this October in japan. A new small analog stick is also added on the right above the buttons. With this news comes two important questions; A. Will this be available outside japan? B. Will developers take note of the extra power?

The 3DS is no PC so introducing new, more powerful version will force developers to readjust or configure future game plans. So far Xenoblade Chronicles upgraded version will only work on this and not any other 3DS. I just hope that future games will not be divided between the new and old hardware. Upgrades are always welcomed provided they are done right and to be honest, a 3DS could use some upgrade. Didn’t expect this news at all so lets hope Nintendo brings this outside japan.

Twitch acquired by Amazon

twitch

The rumors were true false, Google will not be buying Twitch after all. Instead, Amazon will finalize the deal soon to acquire the games streaming giant. I am happy that it is Amazon instead of Google and before you call me anti Google crusader let me tell you this:

I have never broadcasted anything on twitch although I am planing to. The likely scenarios if Google managed to buy it would have been:

  1. Google shuts it down and merge it with YouTube. or
  2. Ruin it to the point of no return much like the YouTube.
  3. Google +

Amazon on the other hand has a vision, to become the best and with the ongoing company innovation and services I can easily trust Amazon over Google any day. Don’t get me wrong, I love Google but in this case; not so much. You can read the announcement bellow:

On August 25, 2014, it was reported that the rumored Google deal had fallen through, and that Amazon.com Inc. was in talks to acquire Twitch for at least $1 billion.[37][38] The acquisition was confirmed by Twitch executive Emmitt Shear shortly after. The deal, valued at $970 million, will be finalized within the remainder of 2014.

Twitch will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc, with Emmitt Shear remaining as CEO. Shear touted the Amazon Web Services platform as an “attractive” aspect of the deal, and that Amazon had “built relationships with the big players in media” which could be used to the service’s advantage—particularly in the realm of content licensing. The purchase of Twitch marks the third recent video gaming-oriented acquisition by Amazon, which had previously acquired the developers Reflexive Entertainment and Double Helix Games.