lost in games

Most of the high profile games have now been released but there some excellent games left which i have to say i am pretty excited about. First off is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (9/11/2007) on which we had a lot of fun during the beta testing. I just hope they improve the lag issues as this was a serious problem.

The other shooter i am excited about is Haze on the PS3. I have not been playing on the PS3 for some time now so it will be a good opportunity to do so alongside Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (9/11/2007). The latter has been getting good reviews so far with the exception of gamespot which only gave it a 7.5.

Late November is Mass Effect (23/11/2007) on the 360 which could be a game of the year contender. I have been hearing great comments about this game on podcasts from reviewers. Can’t wait.

Amazingly i have 3 titles for the Wii which has been hybernating ever since i finished Twilight Princess. Metroid Prime: Corruption which is coming out this Friday and Super Mario: Galaxy (16/11/2007). Lastly its Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbasos’ Treasure with a release date in December according to play.com’s pre-orders.

So many games out there. If somebody told me that i could only play one of these games i would go nuts. But if i really had to choose i would go with Mass Effect and Super Mario: Galaxy a close runner up.

Which game would you choose?

Ok, i have played the demo and i wasn’t really drawn into it but with humour like this i am going to give this game another shot. Very funny stuff if you like the Simpsons. Check out the clips below and you will know what i mean.

Trailer 1

Trailer 2 

Trailer 3 

I just read this great piece on Gamasutra about how developing companies are trying slowly to communicate with their fans and allow them to have their say in the development of games.

I wish i could comment on this some more but i got to get back to work. Here is the LINK

At Forevergamers.net we will organise a Halo 3 tournament which will take place over 3 nights. Here are the details as given by Marios Mardapittas at our facebook group:

The competition will take place over three different days and we will be playing Lone Wolf Slayer mode (every man, woman and child for themselves).

The person who has the most kills over the three days will be declared the winner and will be eligible to choose a game from our selection by messaging myself or Costas Taliadoros on here, Live or our forums @ forvergamers.net.

It’s free to enter and if you have any friends that might like to join in then please let them and us know.

The dates and times are as follows:

29th October 20:30 Cyprus Time
01st November 20:30 Cyprus Time
05th November 20:30 Cyprus Time

I (gamertag MIOU) will be hosting so send me a friends request if I am not already on your list so I can get you all in the session.

You can sign up here but I will also be creating a Facebook Event where you can confirm your participation via that invite.

Alternatively you can also register on our forums @ forevergamers.net to join the community and discuss this event or just pop in to chat with us.

Just play one at a time.

I know this sounds ridiculously obvious but let’s be honest, how many of you out there just play one game until they finish it and then once that is finished go to the next one? Don’t lie to me!

Ok, I know a few who actually do this either because they are disciplined or because they can’t keep buying and buying games. But these “freaks” are clearly in the minority. Most of us “normal” people with no self control just keep on buying games even when we haven’t finished the one we are that time playing.

Once we have more than game in progress events take their own course. You get stuck in one? No problem, where is the other one? You get bored of the second one? No problem, let’s play some multiplayer on the third one.

Unfortunately unless you have loads of free time some, if not all, of these games will be left behind. And what a shame that is. A good game can become great if you give it the love and devotion it requires. Take Jeanne D’Arc on the PSP for example. I have spent 35 hours on the game and I am still going and most importantly still loving it. Why? Not because it’s the best game I have played. Far from it. But because I have given it the time the developers had in mind when they were making it.

So, I have a word of advice which goes against my own actions up until now and probably in the future too.

Buy fewer games if you want to enjoy them more.

Like the title says i will be giving you weekly links to articles which i found interesting. Just click on the link, print them and take them home for some reading over the weekend. Enjoy!

• EA wants ‘open gaming platform’ - BBC
• Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (XBLA) - Eurogamer review
• Okami confirmed for Wii - Link
• Orange Box - Gamespot review 9.5
• Stranger in a strange land - Link
• Will Wright (Sims creator) won cross country race - Wire magazine

Although Halo 3 only came out in late September its effect on the hardware and software sales was immense. According to the NPD figures in September the 360 pushed the Nintendo consoles aside and climbed to the top spot in the US. It will also be interesting to see September and October in Europe where we had the Halo 3 launch and then the PS3 price cut.

As for the software sales the 360 wins hands down with 4 titles in the top 10. People who bought the Wii are simply not buying any games for it even though the installed base is bigger than the 360’s. Only two titles in the top 10 and one of those two is Wii play which is an extra Wii remote with minigames.

NPD Hardware Sales in the US in September (total)

Microsoft Xbox 360: 527.8K (6.8 million total)
Nintendo Wii: 501K (4.5 million total)
Nintendo DS: 495.8K (13.2 million total)
Sony PlayStation 2: 215K (39.3 million total)
Sony PSP: 284.5K (8.6 million total)
Sony PlayStation 3: 119.4K (1.87 million total)

Software sales in the US in September

1. Halo 3 (all three SKUs - Xbox 360) – 3.3 million
2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – 282K
3. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) – 224K
4. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) – 205K
5. Skate (Xbox 360) – 175K
6. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) – 173K
7. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) – 167K
8. BioShock (Xbox 360) – 150K
9. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS) – 141K
10. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – 139K

Bravo re ethnikara. You made us proud! Our Cyprus national football team last night was the better team against an Ireland which had “hopes” for qualifying for the EURO 2008 final stage. We should have won all three points last night and with a margin of 2 goals. Unfortunately the finishing was both poor and unlucky.

Nevertheless this national team is the best we have had ever and at last the players themselves are finding it out for themselves. They have the confidence to play good passing football and attack even in away games now. Under “Angelos”, our psycho manager, the team has made great leaps. I just hope that we don’t lost our faith. The players need to keep this confidence even after setbacks and the fans should support the team more.

The massive success of Halo 3 is blamed for the worst October weekend in years according to Advertising Age. “Total industry ticket sales were only $80 million for the Oct. 5 weekend the film opened, a whopping 27% below the same weekend the year before…”. Movie industry insiders are looking for a link to the Halo 3’s launch which had a sales figure of US$300million.

Although i am not too sure about Halo, a hardcore game, having such an effect on mainstream entertainment i am interested to see the long term effects of gaming on other forms of entertainment as it goes mainstream and draws more of people’s income and time.

For the last three days now I have not switched on any of my major consoles. This is despite the fact that last week I was pretty hooked on FFXII, FIFA and Halo 3 multiplayer.

Since Saturday I have been feeling rather tired and have a bit of the blues. My only gaming was on the PSP with Jeanne D’Arc but on the whole my gaming hours plummeted.

This is not something new. Whenever I am not feeling really well, for whatever reason, my gaming is the first to suffer. I just do not want to play games.

On the other hand I still read books and watch films, which is strange because although I really like these other forms of entertainment it is gaming that I love. It is surprising that this hobby which has entertained me throughout since childhood fails to lift me up when I am down. Maybe it is because I have always associated doing it while having fun and enjoying myself.

Maybe, but I am just guessing. I really do not know why.

I was wondering how your mood affects gaming?