Entries from June 2005 ↓

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Looks like Joystiq ( http://www.joystiq.com ) or more correctly Weblogs, Inc. ( http://www.weblogsinc.com/ ) might want to get some upgrades… It’s cleared up now… I wonder if it was the hosting provider. Oh well, whatever.

So, I’m 28% into ‘Destroy All Humans’ ( http://www.destroyallhumansgame.com/ )… And the game is great! The graphics are terrific, the story is insane, and they used clips from Edward D Wood Jr’s ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’. Really, what else could you ask for? Well, besides using your mental powers well using your jet pack, what more could you ask for? Pandemic ( http://www.pandemicstudios.com/ ) did a fantastic job with this title! Out of the stack of games sitting on top of the Xbox right now this is one that I’ll probably see through to the end and possibly all the way to 100%.

The other new game on my plate is ‘Batman Begins’ for the Xbox. I’m on the fourth or fifth stage of that so far and it is also a great game. For a ‘stealth action’ it does seem to be a bit to easy with moves and action points handed right to the player. But, that’s probably only to make it easier on the majority of casual players so I can forgive that. I can’t decide about the picture below either the programers have a sense of humor or I caught my Xbox in the middle of redrawing the model. You can see for your self – stand next to a wall and move the camera around looking at Batman’s face.

Well, I had some time today to check out EA’s ‘Batman Begins’ ( http://www.eagames.com ) for the GBA today. And Just so you know my game is currently at 25% complete and 2 out of 16 bat-a-rangs. I still haven’t made it to see the movie and the game does have spoilers but I’ll try to ignore them.

This is a great little game. It’s ‘stealth action’ which means you can hide in well placed shadows and grab the bad guys as they walk by (see the third picture below). There is also a nice beat-em-up feel to the game thanks to some well done combos and an overall nice set of moves (the sweep is still the cheapest way to beat most enemies).

Graphics wise I’d say yeah it’s definitely a GBA game. The controls seem pretty good, everything feels nice and smooth. All of Batman’s ‘wonderful toys’ are here including a special attack which calls in a bunch of bats that deal nice amounts of damage. There is only one flaw as far as I’m concerned – you restart at the beginning of the level if you die. All in all a fine game for the GBA. Now I can’t wait till Monday to try the Xbox version.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

There is some very interesting reading over at Acid For Blood ( Thoughts on Video Game Legislation ) today.

Are video games the new comic books, destined to be villified until some new form of entertainment media comes along to supplant its place as corruptors of the young? Possibly. New media has the tendency to make older people nervous or uneasy.

Go check it out.