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[B]Shadowing Samus[/B]


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If there’s one trend that I’ve loved during this generation, it’s that 2D gaming has come back into the fold after being written off the past two generations. More and more companies seem to be open to the idea of creating a fun old-school title while giving it a new school look. The exploration/platformer isn’t one of these genres, at least when it comes to the consoles. No, Metroid and Castlevania have gone the 3D route with only the former having positive results. Chair Entertainment of all development studios has decided that it’s time for this genre to make a comeback by releasing Shadow Complex onto Xbox Live Arcade. Chair isn’t a complete stranger to the 2D realm as their previous work, Undertow, also tested those waters. . .to mixed results. That game wound up costing 360 owners nothing. This one’s $15, one of the highest priced new titles out there. Does it stack up to the classics of yesteryear and forge its own place in the exploration genre?

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Upon first glance, you can see that Chair has no problem whatsoever borrowing heavily from the Super Metroid playbook. You start off by controlling a soldier in a nearly fully-powered suit. You’ve got access to missiles, grenades, a thrust pack, and a boss fight in the middle of a city street against a helicopter. You’ll notice that not only will you have to deal with enemies to your left and right, but there will also be targets in the background that you can’t access. I hope you enjoy this tutorial in disguise as you’ll soon be playing as a guy that has access to absolutely none of that stuff. . .at least for awhile.

Jason Fleming, our makeshift hero and his girlfriend stumble upon a secret industrial complex in the mountains. It isn’t long after that his girl is taken captive and he’s left to uncover whatever wrongdoings are taking place within here. Even though this game is based on a novel entitled "Empire", the game itself doesn’t really go into too much detail about it. I find that to be a blessing in disguise as there aren’t too many gameplay breaks once you get past the opening sequence. That means that the game and its map are open for you to explore without constantly being interrupted.

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There’s a lot to explore for in here, too. Much like Metroid, you can go from point A to point B without too much trouble, but you’re not going to be seeing all the game has to offer if you play it like that. Jason comes equipped with a flashlight that allows him to reveal hidden areas that he can access, pending he has acquired the right upgrades at the time. These range from yellow doors and grates that can simply be shot at to red ones that require missiles to be opened. You can bet that there are plenty of items hidden within these nooks and crannies, and I found that many were hidden quite well.

Another thing that this game does well is that the areas themselves are varied up enough so that you’re not just traveling through similar looking gray hallways all throughout the game. No, along with the factory type areas are caves, underwater sections, and the cliffs that your journey begins at. It’s a fairly large map, too, one that took me a good seven hours to complete my first time through. The exploration aspect is clearly in full force here, and it’s the highlight of the game.

Shadow Complex isn’t perfect, however. The aiming, mainly when you have to shoot at enemies in the background can truly be annoying at times. Sometimes, it will take Jason forever and a day to take care of them. On other occasions, you’ll find that it’s easy to shoot those distant targets when you’d rather be taking out the ones standing right next to you chipping away at your health.

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Also, many of the enemies and bosses scream generic. In fact, the regular boss battles are truly some of the most boring encounters I can think of. Since Shadow Complex doesn’t have a myriad of attacking upgrades, it finds you more or less shooting at targets with grenades or missiles for the most part. There’s usually one safe spot that your character can find rather quickly and just blow them all away. The worst of these is a boss that’s literally a spinning wheel. It will take most gamers a whopping ten seconds to find that it never changes up its pattern whatsoever, allowing you to quickly find a particular spot to stand and shoot from. Luckily, this isn’t a game breaking flaw, but it definitely keeps it from reaching the levels of previous Metroid and Castlevania titles.

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What you have here is a game that does its best to emulate the successful formula that Metroid established, and for the most part, it succeeds. It looks well, it plays well, and that makes it a nicely made title in a year where there haven’t been too many for the 360. By going for 100% with the achievements in this game, you’re going to get about 20 hours out of it. If you just care about an 100% run, it will only be a 5-10 hour run total. Either way, that’s a decent amount of gameplay for a decent price. Shadow Complex may not be the greatest game of the year, but it’s certainly a good one, and one that I would recommend you try.
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[Overall: 8.25/10][/B][/SIZE]

[SIZE=4][B] [URL="http://superphillipcentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/most-overlooked-ds-games-part-three.html"]Most Overlooked DS Games - Part Three[/URL] [/B][/SIZE]

It's time again to un-overlook various DS games in the platform's extensive library. The DS is very much the Playstation 2 of its generation with all genres covered. The following games listed could have been overlooked by my gaming peers, consumers, and/or fellow reviewers. If you'd like to be caught up to speed on past installments, check out the following parts:

[CENTER][SIZE=4][B][URL="http://superphillipcentral.blogspot.com/2009/04/some-of-most-overlooked-nintendo-ds.html"]Part 1[/URL][/B][/SIZE]

[SIZE=4][B] [URL="http://superphillipcentral.blogspot.com/2009/08/most-overlooked-ds-games-part-two.html"]Part 2[/URL][/B][/SIZE]
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With that out of the way, let's get into the next five DS games that get the honor of being inducted into the Most Overlooked!

[SIZE=4][B]Super Princess Peach[/B][/SIZE]

One could say that Super Princess Peach was the appetizer to New Super Mario Bros. It came out the February before NSMB's release, and it had plenty of platforming goodness to share. The game featured Peach who could use the power of emotions to access new areas and beat bad bosses. She could cry tears that could get beanstalks to grow allowing her to reach higher heights or stomp in a furious anger, leveling all baddies in her way. While on the easy side, Super Princess Peach is a charming little game with fun platforming and a great soundtrack, too.

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[SIZE=4]Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime[/SIZE][/B]

Just reviewed yesterday, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime puts you in command of Rocket, a little slime who is charged with the task of rescuing all 100 of the townspeople of Boingburg. If scouring the seven lands for fellow slimes isn't your thing, perhaps the colossal tank battles are more up your alley. With about ten hours to single-player content, multiplayer tank battles, and plenty of cuteness, Rocket Slime is a great adventure oozing with saccharine sweetness.

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[SIZE=4]Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker[/SIZE][/B]

But maybe Pokemon-styled monster catching, collecting, and battling is more your thing. Enter the 3D world of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker where capturing and collecting monsters from the Dragon Quest series is all the rage. Collect over 200 different monsters with different abilities and skills, take part in Wi-Fi play as you battle players from around the world, or finish off the 30 hour single-player campaign in this content-heavy game. If Pokemon doesn't do it for you, perhaps Dragon Quest Monsters will.

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[SIZE=4]Contra 4[/SIZE][/B][SIZE=4]
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Are you ready to have your ass handed to you by a DS game? Then pick up a copy of Contra 4. Made by the development studio behind Shantae, Contra 4 features nine levels of progressively more difficult stages, two-screened areas, diabolical bosses to blast away to smithereens, and more power-ups than you can shake a flame-thrower at. As stated before, this game can be crazily difficult, so easily-frustrated gamers need not apply. Contra veterans will love all the bonus content the game has including a museum filled with past Contra games.

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[SIZE=4]Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword[/SIZE][/B][SIZE=4]
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Another game from a series that can put your butt through the wringer, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword features an intuitive control system where you slash and slice enemies with your stylus. The game is played in a storybook style position with the DS held on its side. If the sheer amount of enemies doesn't kill you, the crafty bosses surely will. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword unfortunately failed to set the world on fire sales-wise, but that doesn't stop the game from being a blast to play.

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[B]Have any suggestions for future installments for DS, PSP, Wii, PS3, or 360? Feel free to post a comment to let me know.[/B][/CENTER]

You've probably already read on Joystiq or Kotaku about the latest marketing stunt from EA for their upcoming game, Dante's Inferno. In brief, they sent $200 checks in fancy boxes to gaming Editors, telling them:

Quote: by cashing this check you succumb to avarice by hoarding filthy lucre but by not cashing it, you waste it, and thereby surrender to prodigality.

At first glance this may seem like dirty pool, but besides the fact that we know the exact dollar value of this giveaway, this isn't much different than the myriad of other freebies that get sent to gaming writers.

EA knows that nobody is going to actually keep the money for their personal use. Editors will either destroy the check (Brian Crecente/Kotaku) or donate it to charity (Chris Grant/Joystiq). Even so, for a relatively small amount of money, EA bought themselves news posts on 2 of the biggest gaming blogs around.

Kotaku charges an $8 CPM (cost per 1,000 banner...

Well, my baseball picks aren't so hot at the moment. Hopefully my football picks will pan out better.

AFC

AFC East - New England Patriots (11-5)
AFC North - Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)
AFC South - Indianapolis Colts (10-6)
AFC West - San Diego Chargers (12-4)
Wildcard 1 - Baltimore Ravens (9-7)
Wildcard 2 - Houston Texans (9-7)

NFC

NFC East - Philadelphia Eagles (12-4)
NFC North - Minnesota Vikings (11-5)
NFC South - Atlanta Falcons (10-6)
NFC West - Seattle Seahawks (9-7)
Wildcard 1 - Green Bay Packers (10-6)
Wildcard 2 - San Francisco 49ers (9-7)

MVP - Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons
OPotY - Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
DPotY - Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers
ORotY - James Davis, Cleveland Browns
DRotY - James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams
CotY - Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles

Steelers over Texans
Colts over...

I just realized I forgot to post my Deal of the Week blog for last week. So, here it is, a tad late, but never the less it is here


I've kind of been complaining the past few weeks that I've been getting too many deals and wished it would stop, well, last week I got my wish I went to several stores but came up empty at all of them. Finally, on Friday I found:

1 vs 100 DS $7.48



Obviously, not the best deal out there and to be honest, I'm not sure if I bought it more because I wanted the game or because I was having withdrawal to get a deal again.

(I decided this wasn't worth pulling the camera out, so I just scanned it, will take pictures again next week, sorry about the quality)


So, all in all a pretty boring week. I think this week may end up being a little better, though not much, but I definitely think next week is going to pick up , better get my cash ready now ...

on cagcast 171 at 1:37:00 mark where they were cheapy answers to a question if his wife is hot and when he laughs he farted.. i think ima stop posting every time he farts laughs i dont wanna get in trouble but its just so freaking funny.

i use zune premium headphones.

The guys at Tech-Gaming have all posted their DC memories on the site: http://tech-gaming.com/2009/09/09/ha...dreamcast.aspx

Come and share yours as well.

Highlights include a Target stampede, life after death, and Chu-Chu Rocket.

I'm gonna twitter this to Shawn since the stupid 128 character limit is holding me back.

I was in attendance at PAX Brodeo Reunion. The question I was going to ask is as follows:

" Hi guys. I'm DarkxDevil6669 and I'm the moderator on alt.binaries.podcasts.erotica. I'm typically in charge of writing the Brodeo slash fiction for the group. However our users are plunged into an enternal flamewar regarding which of you are tops, bottoms, and switches. I was wondering if you could please just clear this up so my fanfics are more factually accurate. Thanks."

I'm not sure how it would have went over and I didn't want to wait in line for 30+ minutes to find out. Here's hoping he'll answer.

Click for more HaHa...





...

So, I've had the original PSP-1000 model since it came out. I actually bought it from a guy on Craigslist and never had one issue (except that I noticed a lot of porn websites on it).

Is it worth $169.99 (or $150 if I buy used from GS--$129.99 for PSP, $20 for year warranty) to upgrade to the 3000 model? I have absolutely no interest in the PSP Go because of all the PSP games I already own, and an all digital thing just doesn't work for me.

I intentionally misspelled "Job". If you didn't get it, then watch this


So it is a new week and since I've redone my resume and cover letter. So far, I applied to every job that is relates to what I done prior to my job loss last week. I know it's too early to get a response back from them but hopefully I get a few calls by the end of the week or early next week. There's one job I really want though and that is the position which I ALMOST got last year back in California but came up short. There's a position in Nashville available and applied day one.

I do have a set plan though. I have some cash that will allow me to survive here for about 3 months. If I can't find another job here in Tennessee for the next 2 months, then I'm moving back home to California or to my brother's in Seattle where there's more tech jobs out there respectively.

So I am patiently waiting and not thinking anything negative. I know it's a tough market...

Darkest of Days brings forth an interesting concept through a mix of time travel, futuristic weaponry, and famous historical battles. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to tear through Civil War infantry with an assault rifle, here's your chance. Or maybe you’d like to prematurely torch the Ancient Roman sentries of Pompei with a fireball launching flamethrower? Well, you can do that too. But does the game capitalize on these novel ideas or is your time best spent elsewhere?

The game starts with you fighting in your native time period as a soldier under Custer’s command at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Of course, that’s not really the side you'd want to be on, and right before you are ready to bite the big one a mysterious portal pops onto the battleground and you are dragged to safety by a man who bares a striking resemblance to Sam Neill. Sam's doppelganger is your new "partner in time", Dexter. You quickly learn that M.I.A. soldiers are perfect employees...

So I'm sittin here waitn for Sons of Anarchy season 2 premier, and what do I see the trailer for Wet or should I say Bethesda's version of Stranglehold. Am I the only one who felt like this. Played the demo (PS3) and said oh Stran.... Yeah I have a felling the cheaper this gets the more Cheapy will tell us to buy it. So let's just wait and see if Mr. D recommends this for like 15 CAGcast's straight. Anyway everybody go watch SoA startin in 30 min.

It's no secret that i'm madly in love with the Grand Theft Auto series. GTA III, for me, defined what i view is a hardcore game, and every iteration since has been nothing short of amazing. And man, oh man, the music. It was good when they made the songs themselves in GTA III, when they made two of the best soundtracks ever in Vice City in San Andreas, and, as you can see below, is still amazing in GTA IV and its expansions. Yep, i'm a nerd. Live with it :P

With a lot of buzz about the PSP's surge of Persona news, including the announcement of a Persona 3 and the upcoming release of the original Persona later this month, Persona fans have a good to get a PSP if they do not already own one. Persona on the PSP gets a new localization to make up for the poor localization the original received about 12 years ago with content being left out and one character's race changing to suit the US audience. Is this re-release a must play game for Persona fans and newbies alike?



"Shin Megami Tensei: Persona provides a very good experience for Persona fans to see the series’ origins, which are a bit rough around the edges. New players will find a somewhat simpler experience than either of the recent sequels, which makes it a decent introduction to the series with an announced Persona 3 port and the possibility of others coming if this game does well, too. This game is definitely...

Part 2 of my ______ EVER! blogs

Off the top of my head, this is the best publishers/developers in console video games (I don't know/ play enough PC games to form a fair enough opinion. That's you, the CAGs' job! ) IMHO.

Publishers:

Rockstar/2K: Yes they also develop games, but I placed them on this list above developers because both companies are responsible for the giant that is GTA. Individually, they rocked Bully (Rockstar), Oblivion and Fallout 3 (2K) Did I mention that 2K (as a developer) is responsible for one of the greatest football games of all time? (NFL 2K5) Thanks EA Sports, for taking away my precious series!

Konami: From "the code" back in the NES days to sparking the music game sensation (DDR, KR, RR... okay scratch that last one) to breeding Snakes (solid. liquid. gaseous?) left and right, they helped formed the fabric of our gaming culture along with...

Namco: They had the balls to...

I've been a CAG member for just over 3 years now and have been perusing other gaming related sites such as 1UP, Gamespot, Gametrailers and most recently GiantBomb for a long time as well. And the one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the amount of insults that people dish out through the annonymity of their avatars on comments sections of news posts or forums.

On CAG, it's not as bad. It's gotten a lot worse than from 3 years ago (from what I can tell), but it's worlds better than most of the other gaming sites I've been to. It's something though that has been bugging me for the longest time. I'm almost certain that NOBODY would talk to each other as such if they were at a gaming convention or had just met at the pub and were talking about video games.

A lot of threads where this is a problem go something like this:
1) Topic is started about Deal/Game
2) First posts usually thank OP or express in interest said Deal/Game
3) Person posts...

if you agree with the Wii's direction, comment. If you don't agree with it, then comment.

So, who's got an opinion on Nintendo's direction since the launch of the Wii? i consider(ed) myself a hardcore gamer and i still like to see the hardcore community pushing the direction of videogames. We are the people and we should choose what we get to play and how we should play it. That being said, Nintendo...what the hell are they doing? don't you remember the good old day when you use to play our Super Mario's and our Metroids with our super smash bros. yeah, well we still have those but something just isn't right and that something is "casual". They're just profiting right now to hurt themselves in the long run once people give up on them and they've forced everything down our throats and forced the real people who made them "nintendo" go away and replaced with people we really don't care about.

Now, Microsoft has their own direction: Online...

So yeah this blog is going to be a little different to my other blogs. More about my personal life than video games.

I started college today and my first impressions weren't too bad at all, but as it gradually went through the day I started to realise that I just was not going to enjoy college (well this course anyway). The course I'd applied for was National Diploma In Music Technology, but since not enough people applied for the course we were just shoved in with the media course (which I was not told about until this morning). Luckily a friend of mine was on the media course so that wasn't so bad.

Anyway since this is only induction week, we're just getting shown a lot of the things that we will be doing on the course, and every single little thing I was shown and told about on this course was just not of interest to me in the slightest. The only thing I found interesting was when we went into the recording studio (which the media students just use for making...

It has been a while since I played a game on the Wii. After looking at the videos and such, I decided to give Muramasa a shot. This game will keep me going for a LONG TIME! If you like Odin Sphere then you may like this. The backgrounds and graphics are very fluid, I was surprised the Wii could handle it. Load times are near non-existent. There is so much to do such as gathering the blades, backtracking to areas with demon lairs and so forth. This is a must have for Wii owners!


I got Tatsunoko vs Capcom in the mail last week and I am getting the hang of the battle system. Very simple yet deep. My Naruto Shippuden EX 2 is coming in the mail 2day and I am waiting for Shippuden EX 3 to come in the mail soon too.