Movies Inspired by the Gaming World (Pt.3)

Hello my friends and welcome back for the 3rd part of the "Movies Inspired by the Gaming World" article. If u thought thats i was pretty strict or mean judging the movies in the parts that preceded, u are totally right and im gonna be even meaner in those parts that are about to follow. So pay attention while i rub my hands laughing malevolently!

BloodRayne

There are only a few adaptation attempts worth watching and unfortunately Bloodrayne isnt one of them! Actually is quite a laughable one! Kristanna Loken as the Dhampyr BloodRayne (half-human, half vampire) sets out to find her father Kagan (Ben Kingsley) to get revenge for raping her mother. Along the way she meets and joins with the leaders of the fortress of the vampire hunters, Vladimir (Michael Madsen) and Sebastian (Matthew Davis), who train her to fight Kagan. Meanwhile her human side falls in love with Sebastian etc. Well i remember that the first time i laid my eyes on the Bloodrayne game cover i was convinced that it was a killing combo. a fast tempo arcade action gameplay with a gothic leather dressed hot chick. Such a combo hardly fails especially if its nicely represented. I wish i could say the same about the movie. Uwe Boll once more proves how good he is in taking gems and turning them into stinky shit! Kristanna Loken's costumes were poorly made and they look quite fake and the same goes for almost everyone's clothes. The film set was so lame that only in low budget movies u can find. A weak twisted scenario, lame acting, low budget and Uwe Boll is th secret recipe for an awful movie and this one had all the ingredients.

Doom

Well, now about Doom. Something is wrong at the space research facility on Mars. Researching was ceased communication is failed and the few messages that manage to get through are quite disturbing. Space marines are sent to investigate the incident and they just cant imagine the horrific terror they are to face! With Karl Urban as John Grimm and Dwayne Johnson as Sarge and a bunch of interesting casting as well, Doom succeeds where other game-movies have failed! To be honest when i first rented the movie i wasnt sure about what i was gonna watch. U see there are not many good examples of games that became movies so i was a bit reluctant. But in the end Doom movie surpassed my expectations. And the reason is quite simple! It had all those features that a good game-movie have: 1) loyalty to the prototype source 2) a decent direction 3) very good action and even horror scenes 4) and FPS directed scenes!!! What else is there to ask?! Even though  Dwayne Johnson  was awarded as the worst actor nevertheless in general u wouldnt even notice his acting sipmly because that was not the point of the movie!

Silent Hill

Movie success. Or else Silent Hill!! Yes Silent Hill is one of the few attempts that managed to be one of the scariest movies ever staying true to the game that's based on, having an amazing direction and scenario and a very promising cast! Silent Hill is about a couple whose daughter suffers from sleepwalking. Her mother, Radha Mitchell, takes the decision to visit the town that her daughter dreams about (without telling her husband, Sean Bean). But there they find out that that town, SIlent Hill, is nothing but an ordinary welcoming place. An accident that happened in the netrance of town causes her daughter to dissappear. So Rose, her mother, begins desperately searching for her only to discover the cruelites that once took place there involving in a repulsive manner her daughter! Silent Hill's director did a terrifc job won 8 nomination awards! So, any wannabes directors out there u should take some really serious lessons from masters like Christophe Gans .

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Review (Nintendo Gamecube)

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess is an action RPG (with real time battles) developed by Nintendo and designed orginally for the Nintendo Gamecube. Every Legend of Zelda game has to do with Link who despite being a young lad doesn’t hesitate to go against every evil force that most of the time wants dominion over the world. Princess Zelda is always involved in some manner and Link sets to completing his tasks after being equipped with his trusty sword and shield. 

PLOT: 8/10

Well, now about LoZTP.  Its begins with link waking up in his room on his tree house (another reappearing situation in LoZ games) and sets out to begin just another phenomenically ordinary day In Ordon Village. After strolling around in the beautiful Ordonian fields, some kids are abducted by an evil force and Link begins searching for clues in order to rescue them.  After rescuing them, Link meets the twilight side of the world and because of a curse he turns into a beast of the shadows while having Midna (a really peculiar character) in his aid. You play along his journey to get rid of the curse and to save the world (once more) of the malice Zant.

GAMEPLAY: 7.5/10

If it is a section of the game that is weak or at least annoying (at some points) that is its gameplay.  Well firstly its not a free roaming rpg which is quite restricting itself. Ur root across  the world map is predefined with narrow paths or wide valleys which steals away the sensation of the vastness of the world and also the desire of the player to explore. Secondly, the number of enemies u meet especially in the world map (not in dungeons) is so small and when  u eventually meet them  the battle is really easy and not challenging at all! But even though there are those flaws on the gameplay there is the bright side as well. Link’s movements are really natural and even cool I could say! His attacking moves are pretty well made too and quite plenty. Nintendo has been innovative adding the wolf transformation feature! Link at certain points of the game, when he enters in the twillight zone. He transforms into a fearsome wolf with a bunch of new skills. So, there are some places that u can go with Link, and some places that u can go with the Wolf-Link. On the one hand that's something totally new for the Legend of Zelda series but on the other hand im not quite sure if its a feature that actually fits or blends in with the rest of the gameplay. When i turned into the wolf for the first time I had the curiosity of exploring him as a character but i wanted the real classic green-hooded Link back and really quick!!! One more thing that i liked is that it is designed in a way that even if u clear a quest in an area, there will still be something there for u to take, or do, later in the game, when u have the appropriate equipment! Thats a very clever way for the game not to be boring after some hours of gameplay!

U walk around with the left stick n u turn the camera with the "C stick" (right one). U draw ur sword with "A button" while u strike with "B". "X" n "Y" are used for equipping secondary weapons that u select in the menu by pressing the "UP button" of the cursor. The "left directional button" of the the cursor is for the map, while the "L" and "R" buttons are for targeting and defending. The "Z" one is used for calling Midna when u need her help. What u have to do throughout the game is more or less like every else in the series. U finish it by defeating the final boss of every dungeon, u enter dungeons by obtaining the necessary key, and u have to use several weapons (in the dungeons) in order to overcome  each obstacle (i really love this kind of gamplay by the way) ! And last but not least what I thought it was trully well done was the horseback battles! Epona gallops like hell when Link swings his sword against the enemy hordes! That was the most adrenaline driven moments in the game. And dont forget that Link can ride even the beasts of the enemies, once he defeats them!........ Oh! and if u excuse me i have one question: Why Link NEVER fucking speaks????????

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 8/10

The atmosphere and the music are really good and nicely given however they are not the game's strongest points. The musical scores dress adequately each scene of the game with the really impressive moments being those when in the dungeons. There is one score piece for almost every region u re gonna visit. This characteristic itself is well thought because each region gains a personality automatically! The atmopshere is at quite satisfying levels as well having really intimidating boss battles! The atmosphere especially in the fiery mountains of the Gorons is breath-taking. Running and fighting ur way through the rooms of the mines is challenging. A really clever plus in the game is the somewhat psychotic and grotesque music when u get attacked by creatures of the shadows in the twillight zone. Its not the conventional heroic type one u can find in the most battle themes. And when i was awkwardly but pleasantly surprised was when i saw the first portal forming in the sky! It was made of pixels! Well surelly it was made of pixels its a game after all but what i mean is large deliberately visible pixels moving one by one towards the sky forming the portals! Well once more Japan proves that know how to make a really good GAMING atmosphere! Even though Link lives in medieval like times, that digital like feature blends in so naturally in those fiendish unearthly creatures that eventually it becomes an intergral part of their nature!

GRAPHICS: 8.5/10

Graphics is what catches the eye when it comes to Twillight Princess. In general terms it is like playing Ocarina of time but with highly enhanced graphics. Very detailed and beautiful they give a pretty and natural feeling of the surroundings. It's objectively the best Legend fo Zelda when it comes to graphics. The best designed version of Link (except for his eyes maybe) . Id like to add here that throught the game i constantly had a feeling of sadness, at first couldnt tell why but i ended up that it was the graphics. Not in a bad way or anything but its something the colors that it's a bit sad about this game.   Maybe because almost in every scene there is so much yellow/brown/light orange/beige or sugar white. There are not lively strong colors such as red. Even the hearts u collect are more like pale pink (if u ve seen the hearts in Windwaker u could know what i mean. The hearts there are so sweetly made that they look like candies. I know... the Windwakers style is totally different but still...). But thats not necessarily bad. Maybe thats the way Nintendo wanted to be. More serious, doleful or even bleak and if thats the case, they made their point and they pretty well!

OVERALL: 8/10

The last Legend of Zelda title at least for the Nintendo Gamecube was really innovative and surely something that made a lot of fans waiting for its arrival, back then. There is no better thing for a gamer than to anticipate to see how his favorite hero will look like in a new console with enhanced graphics and sounds, remaining at the same time loyal to all those characteristics that made him so famous success! So, maybe it has some flaws ( i actually can name just a few flawless games) but u really overcome them because u can simply take Epona ride into the sunset and save the world for one more time!

Top 10 Most Horrifying Video Games

As the author, of the cult of "weird" fiction, H.P. Lovecraft, once wrote "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear". Even if we don't want to see things that will probably give us the chills, something inside us indicates otherwise. It's the very same thing that causes andrenaline to reach red limits, and it's the same thing that makes hair stand up like nails. Fear, no matter how blood freezing, will always be tempting and intriguing and its adventurerers feel like treading on unknown facets of the most untold terrors.

And of course, that is a thing that video game designers realized quite early, and adapted it in a genre known as Survival Horror. This particular genre has quite a lot of fans for the reasons i already mentioned. Even if its allusive terror like the one we find in Scratches, or raw gory disturbing violence of Condemned, Survival Horror its a genre thats has developed in a way that would satisfy even the most demanding gamers. In 2012 the titlesare so many and the sub-genres even more, so im gonna present to you the 10 most fearsome of them. 

10. Dead Space (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

Created with the latest means of technology, Dead Space is quite a chaotic spectacle, being Isaac Clarke literally alone in the vastness of space trapped inside a rescue ship confronting "Necromorphs". This name (it could so easily be the name of some black metal band!) belongs to an alien virus that hosts as a parasite into livng humans, turning them into clawing blood thursty android abominations. Maybe the plot isnt really innovative, but the way Dead Space is given (and also dressed with brilliant scores) is quite a temptation for all the horror gamers. Though one of the most successful survival horror titles out there, Dead Space wins merely the 10th position only for the reason that its gameplay gets a bit boring along the way. U ll find urself just wondering around in rooms full of computers and narrow corridors having to literally mutilate numerous Necromorphs. It could be addictive, though i was expecting a more tempting gameplay.

9. Doom 3 (PC. Xbox, Mac)

Remakes most of the time leave me thinking if they`re gonna overcome the success of their predecessors but Doom 3 left me no doubt about it. Dated in 2004 with graphics that even today are remarkably impressive Doom 3 is set in a futuristic space station in Mars which is infested with demons and nightmarish grotesque creatures with the sole purpose of scaring the shit out of and of course destroying Earth. Not a very rare to find scenario again but its a masterpiece to the collection of a horror gamer fan.

8. Project Zero 2: Crimson Butterfly (Playstation 2, Xbox)

With Japan being into the horror industry for good we have enjoyed and scared to death many times thanks to their non-stoping imagination and creativity. Project Zero 2 beats what they say that the first of the series is always the better. I think that the 2nd attempt of Ubisoft is even better than the 1st having the gamers to follow 2 little girls chasing around a butterfly, only to find themselves lost in a village were the souls of the dead never rest. And the exciting thing of this tittle is that u dont have any shotguns, axes, steel pipes or any other badass weapon (who would like anything like that when confronting an immaterial spooky threat?) just a camera that u try to annihilate the ghosts by taking pictures of them! It may sound gay but it actually needs  BIG balls to encounter those spiritual threats with such a "weapon". I'd like to see how a movie version of this title would look like, but now that i am thinking about it there is a movie with similar plot called "Shutter".

7. Dark Fall: The Journal (PC)

Further down in our list we have Dark Fall: The Journal which is the right successful of the text adventure games if u ask me! You receive a tape recorder from ur brother telling you in a kinda freaked out way to take a train and meet him. But when u arrive, the station is deserted. Spooky and eerie sounds can be heard from every corner no matter how well lit it is and the chances to get chill blooded are uncountable. Its first person aspect of gameplay gives you the angle of looking through the protagonist's eyes and this fact makes the contact with each terror more immediate. It's a game thats highly recommended especially to the old school gamers and to those who know how to enjoy a good classic ghost story (its a classic pattern : 1.lights turned off 2. volume to its limit 3. play only in the night).

6. Penubra: Overture (PC)

Having H.P. Lovecraft to infect, almost any kind of art known these days, games couldn't be immune, especially Penubra: Overure. The Lovecraftian atmosphere is spread throughout the game. The player assumes the role of Phillip who receives a letter from his supposedly  dead father along with a crypted book. The investigation leads him to a bank account that holds a map for Greenland pointing to some old mines. The game is survival horror emphasizing on solving riddles rather killing enemies with brute force. The game uses cutting edge 3D graphics technology and it also has an advanced physic system which allows such an environment interaction like never seen before! Well all those i think are quite enough for Penubra: Overture to be in this list.

5. Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth (PC, Playstation 2, Xbox)

Well its needless to say where this title originates from. It comes directly from the haunted pages of Lovecraft's stories along with the Old Ones, Cthulu, and the upcoming, unavoidable madness!  You take the role of detective Jack Walters, six years after the disturbing events in the Massachussets manor that apparently drove you insane. You take up a case of investigating a missing person in a slimy, xenophobic, foggy, town called Innsmouth. There is something... "fishy" about the Innsmouth residents and ur gonna find it out, not with the most tender way! Enough said about that masterpiece, the rest is all up to you to discover...  if u have the guts of course!

4. Scratches (PC)

Approaching even more the number one in the Top 10 Most Horrifying Video Games, 4th comes a not so well-known atmospheric, first person, point n' click, adventure game called Scratches. The famed horror writer Michael Arthate arrives at Blackwood Manor a Victorian style residence located in the ouskirts of a small english market town. Soon enough he finds himself isolated by a destroyed road. With a telephone being the only means of communication with the outer world, he has to overcome his fears but the strange sounds echoing through all the house's walls will make the dusty atmosphere even frightening. Solving several puzzles as he makes his way through the lonely rooms of the manor and some more areas around the house as well such as a mystical chapel, a greenhouse, and a spooky crypt he will find himself wishing..he was alone!

3. Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC)

Pacing in the steps of Penubra in aspects of gameplay Amnesia: The Dark Descent, is another first person, survival horror, point n click, atmospheric adventure. In the beggining u take control of Daniel after getting conscious being at a loss suffering from amnesia. U just have to make ur way through the hostile chambers, corridors, and rooms of this vast castle trying to find out more about ur identity. The horrors that u are going to come up against are beyond any imagination. The real good thing about this one is that the game feels quite natural as u play using quite an adnvaced physics and interactive system. It gives u the ability to interact with almost anything in every way u can imagine. One more plus of this title is though it doesn't have immediate action, brutal killing or abomination like monsters, u feel constantly terrorized by the spookiness of the castle's corridors and the pitch black darkness, that u wish u had enemies to slaughter in order to wreak the tension. Being one of the most fluently made games of that genre ever i happily freaked out every moment i spent with it!


2. Resident Evil (Playstation, PC, Saturn)

I believe i dont have to say almost anything about Resident Evil being the game that defined the genre like no one else. In the first of the series S.T.A.R.S. Team is running, in panic, towards a mansion in order to find shelter from what it seems a vicious dog. Then, in the Mansion they will get separated n eventually lost and Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield (2 options) will have to find their partners and to solve the infested-with-zombies-mansion mystery. They soon will discover that they have to deal with a deadly virus that their own company manufactured conducting experiments.


1. Silent Hill 2 (Playstation 2, PC)

I ll never forget the insanity and the unimaginably terrifying atmosphere that was lurking within the streets of the first Silent Hill of the series, but some flaws that were corrected in the sequel made me write about the 2nd one. But lets face it, it's really difficult to tell which one is better, because even though the first one has that prototype kind of fear, the second one is almost flawless!!! Well no matter how many horror games i have played or gonna play i ll never find such a disturbing title. Konami once again gave gaming legacy a masterpiece that is going to be discussed for many generations! James Sunderland receives a letter from his dead wife that tells him to meet her in Silent Hill. The foggy scenery is largely depressing, the plot is twisted in an authentic Japanese way, the creatures are designed in a manner that can only be described as mentally ill and malicious and the sounds blend in so well that this thing alone can cause a heart attack. I dont think there is any fan of the genre out there who hasnt played Silent Hill 2, and if there is do urself a favor and try it now!

When Music Reigns

Video games have their own history and stories to narrate along the years. Almost 2 decades ago, when games started to take a form that set the basics for what we know today, they were let's say minimalistic. For instance characters and monsters had only a few frames for their movements, they were consisted of very few pixels, as well, which were placed in strategical positions for the resemblance between the pixelated character and the real one to be possible. The same applies for music and  sound  effects too. Back in the days, music in video games were just 8-bit sounds (because the saving format had little capacity) but u could easily tell if each composition was good or matching the scene that it was dressing with.

In my opinion video game designing is just another art or the 8th art if u want. Just think of it, they can be poetic , dramatic, gory, sad, brutal, fun, or even all of those together in the best case scenario. Just like the movies are. Surely games' audience arent so vast but they deal with the same stuff. They are being directed, there are authors to write the scripts, actors are being hired to dub the character's voices and so on. And here comes the music part. A good game scene always gets better in every aspect when is nicely dressed with a musical piece that fits. What Legend of Zelda would be without its classic sound effects of acquiring items, or FF series without the victory battle theme? No matter how good a video game is, when the music part is weak then something is missing. And thats the feeling. When u play a u practically are the character on the screen. U become one struggle with him. In other words u interact. This interaction gets completed when music comes to express the feelings, that graphics and technology cant. I remember how well chosen was the soundtrack of Painkiller. Such an arcade-fps-gory gameplay can only be dressed with fast-paced, heart pumping rock n metal tunes! 

The key to a good VG soundtrack is when the composer feels what the game is all about (and each scene scene as well), and every musical piece is the audio soul of each scene. A grande castle can be dressed with the organ, a chase in the jungle with a groovy beat of bongos, or a death scene with the sad notes of a piano or a cello perhaps.

I simply cant think of a single person that didnt feel joy when was hearing the 8-bit sounds of Kirby, or the battle's anxiety when he was hearing the battle music theme in Pokemon. VG soundtracks is such a vast a legacy itself. Music themes of retro games like Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog are being regarded classics these days, existing almost everywhere and in every form. In movies, as ringtones for cell phones, or even they are being covered by varius orchestras around the world. Youtube is full of covers like that and many of them are worth of our attention. Even metal bands, like Powerglove, have been formed with the solely purpose to cover VG music themes in a more heavy metal sound. Many composers have emerged through their work in the audio sectors such as Nobuo Uematsu, Kazuki Muraoka, Rika Muranaka. 

J-RPGs - Repeated Patterns

This post most likely is gonna interest the J-RPG lovers, but i just couldnt resist writing about it. One of my passions, conserning video games, is the J-RPG genre (Japanese Role Playing Game). Having played quite a lot of those during the years, i can say with safety that there are some really classic and standard patterns that are being repeated almost deliberately. Some of them has to do clearly with the plot and some of them with the designing process and the gameplay style. More extensively:

1. Main Character - Swordsman

Cloud Strife

Dart

Almost in every  J-RPG the main hero will be a sword expert even if the game is not placed in a medieval-like age. Maybe the technology around him is growing stronger n stronger but he still uses a blade that he can do nearly every stand that a mind can come up with. So we can see Cloud Strife of FF 7 with his massive Buster Sword, Squall Leonhart of FF 7 with his Gunblades, Dart, Ryudo, and Ryu with their blades  and so on...

2. Every hero must form a party 

Breath of Fire 4 party

One of my great expectations when i start playing a new turn-based  J-RPG is to start meeting the new members of the upcoming party so to know their strengths n weaknesses and to find out their role and past. Japanese manufacturer companies surely know how to surprise their gaming audience since almost every character is quite different from the others or is just peculiar or unique in their own way (see Quina - FF 9). One of the advantages of this feature is that the game never loses its interest cos u can always chose a different combination of characters to play with and that means new combat styles, spells and eventually a totally new point of view of the gameplay. It is also a really nice trick cos though we see the story of the main character being unraveled in front of us, we also see the stories of the secondary heroes being twisted with each other's at the same time.

3. Every hero can use only one type of weapon

From the early years of the japanese genre each character could use only one type of weapon and that feature, passed down like a tradition to the games till nowdays. For instance we have Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy 7 who specializes in guns n shotguns, or Shana in Legend of Dragoon who specializes in bows, Spinel (Crimson Gem Saga) in daggers etc.

4. Mysterious/brute-force/low-inteligence character

Kongol - Legend of Dragoon

Almost in every  J-RPG title there must be a least one of the above characters in order to make the contrast usually to the main character. For example, Kongol (Legend of Dragoon) is a kind-hearted giganto with lethal physical strength that none of the rest of the party can match with. He is not so well-known for his brain as he is for his raw strength. The same thing applies for Mareg of Grandia 2. From the other hand Vincent Valentine, Auron and Amarant from the FF series are quite the mysterious type of guys that dont reveal all of their papers but their are with the party to serve their own purposes.

5. Healer/Shaman character

Cecilia - Wild ARMs

Not only in  J-RPGs but in DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) games as well, always there is a healer, shaman, or cleric that provides his comrades with healing and protective spells and always fights from the back row using ranged weapons cos of his physical weakness. Its has become a tradition in gaming, movies or even literature (if it is heroic fantasy) if there is a party being formed along the way, at least one magician/priest/wizard to exist in it. But in  J-RPGs they have something in common. They are ALL women or girls and usually is the character that the main one falls in love with. They all have big-cute-colored-watery manga style eyes. Aeris of FF 7, Garnet of FF 9, Yuna and Lulu of FF 10, Cecilia of Wild ARMs, Shana of Legend of Dragoon, Elena of Grandia 2, Nina of Breath of Fire 4 etc.

6. Main character / main villain = Brothers

Kuja vs. Zidane - FF 9

Each  J-RPG that wants to be a classic has to follow the rules and this one seems quite catchy as it is being used quite frequently simply cos in the final battle the drama grows immensely.  J-RPGs have the ability to absorb the players' minds into their own world and into each character's personality and past, like really not many games can do. You dont just play, you feel for them! So when the ending of the game is near what is more dramatic than putting two men who share the same blood to fight each other?! And trust me japanese people know exactly how to make a dramatic scene like this worth its while!  

7. Each character has his own music theme

The tradition in constructing  J-RPGs, indicates that each character has a distinctive musical piece that defines him. Thats happening just because each character plays an important role in the game's plot and he/she is not there just as a secondary playable character. So whenever something happens and has to do with him most of the times we can hear his/her theme as a background  music. The same thing happens with the different regions throughout the game.

8. 2D J-RPGs nowadays

Atelier Iris - Eternal Mana

Crimson Gem Saga

There are still getting produced nowadays  J-RPGs in total 2D environments and characters even for consoles like PS2, PS3 etc. like they were back in the 90's just because its classic and of course easy and more effortless. Its a tested method know to the public so why should anyone take any risks?

Dont get me wrong! Im a sucker for that kind of similarities in those games. Its what keeping the genre going all those years. Those patterns are its legacy and history. So I just thought that it would worth a while mentioning and listing them. Arigato!  

Tekken 6 (Online/PS3) - Hints n' Tips (Pt.1)

I ve been playing Tekken 6 (online mode on PS3) since last summer and i could say that it's totally addictive. U can never get bored cos there is the human factor that makes it so provocative and challenging. Plus that u can collect money to costumise ur characters afterwards. While playing, especially at the beggining, i had so many questions in my mind, which i couldnt find the answers to them wherever i looked on the web. So i figured the most of them out while playing and making my progress through it. 

When u log in for the first time u simply dont know what to expect and ur literally a noob. But thats not necessarily bad because it happens to anybody. Even if u know a character extremely well, ur first matches will end up getting disappointed and swearing at the opponet or even hitting the controller to get a revenge!! But im gonna explain here various and helpful things that maybe will make ur online gameplay more enjoyable n challenging.

1. Connection Problems 

Weak signal

searching for opponent online mode

Well after u selected ur character, u see a default screen and the message "searching for opponent" is on. At the background u can listen to a music track playing, and Playstation tries to find a player suitable for a match. How strong ur connection with the other player's is, is indicated by a signal icon and a number from 1 to 5. 1 is the weakest connection possible (most times lagging or disconnects) and 5 is the strongest (most of the times are of a region near urs). And here's the thing. If the music at the background doesnt stop playing, that means that the connection is good and that in a few secs u ll have an opponent available and most of the times is gonna be a 3 or higher signal. If the music stops for some reason it means that the connection is faulty and that u have to cancel it and start the process over. The most playble connections are those of 3,4 or 5 signal. There other ones are slow, often lagging or disconnecting so avoid them.

2. Search Priority Problems

Various online customizable options

The main menu of the online mode has a number of choices and one of them is Ranked Match mode (u play online and u progress ur way through the various ranks, having a percentage counter to measure ur effectiveness and success). Selecting this one some options of customizing the fight to come are becoming available. Well, if u ask me all those shit are there just to trick the players and think that they have a lot of choices. That is totally wrong. Although, phenominically, u can prioritize the criteria with which Tekken searches for opponent, this entire procedure is all confused. When i choose to search according to connection quality, many are the times that i get connected with opponents with the weakest signal etc. Or when i choose to search according to rank of the opponent, if we suppose that i have 123W/100L and Mentor Rank most times I find myself confronted with guys with 12000W/2000L and Champion Rank and so on. So what i do is always choose the connection quality cos one way or another it searches randomly.

3. Fucking Nerve-Breaking Juggling Combos!!!

As u have realised many are the guys that dont know how to play rather than using juggling combos and not letting u play at all. This is quite irriatating cos it ruins all the fun. Well most of those guys have learned to play offensively and when u attack them or surprise them they are totally worthless and even easier opponents that the rest. For example if u backside roll and start attacking or even better counterattack when they rush to u they freak out, lose temper and finally cant do all those juggling shit that they are so fond of. And the fun doesnt stop there. When u finally so digracefully defeat them, they get sooo mad that will surely swear at u or at least say to u what a big noob u are! And thats where u realize ur BIG SUCCESS!!! So learn how to play defensively and ur half way there! In my expeirience i have defeated many many guys with a 5digit number of wins and high ranks fighting like this than average guys.

4. New Account

When u first start to play online, u are an amateur and it is really natural to have more losses than wins. That means that even if u at some point learn how to be a worthy adversary, the difference between ur wins and losses will probably be so big that u wont be able to cover it. So what i suggest is create an account just to learn how to play and behave online and when u have accumulated some online experience, delete that account and create a new one. That way, u can start from the beggining with the only difference that u will be  an experienced player.

5. Customized Characters

When I at first was playing online i couldnt understand if the clothes u buy to customize ur players give extra stats to online mode as they give at the offline mode. For example if  King has a robe that gives +40% to Strength that doenst count for online fights. Its just the looks. So u can dress ur characters as u d like without worrying if they have pros n cons that will affect ur fighting results.

Customized Kazuya Mishima

6. Ways That Spammers Cheat (NOT RECOMMENDED)

Some guys obviously dont know what fair play means n so they come up with several ideas on how to win without deserving it. Well some guys learn how to play when the game is lagging, so they have a good connection at the beggining  and then with various ways they reduce the connection quality ruining the game speed and eventually ur mood by defeating u. I dont know if what i ll say now is true but there probably are many hackers out there that also ruin the gaming feeling and this is how they do it. Many times i have run into players with 0W/67L for example and they are 1dan!! Ridiculous if u think that u need at least 10 wins to reach 1dan. When i asked someone how he replied that he was a PS3 hacker. And some other time i was playing against an Eddy that he was moving so fucking fast as if his movements had less frames! Well if u consider all these u can easily conclude to that someone can cheat in some way, now if u ask me what is the way... im sorry, i dont know.

7. Attack and Humiliate

A lot of the oppononents that u ll meet, at the first round will lie down just to let u win. So that he gives u the advance and then even with less rounds at his disposal beat the shit out of u. Well when that happens dont be fair or merciful! just make him regret it even by spamming the battle if possible. that way will win u one or two successful rounds and in the third one if u are warmed up and u start it with combos n stuff u ll get him disorganised without giving him the chance to think how to beat u, cos he ruined his chances by letting u win.

Sensuality (and sex) In Video Games

Its widely known that sex is behind almost anything in this world. It always was and it  always will be. Sex, money, fame and power are the things that rule the world and make everything go round! From the ancient times till nowadays the examples are literally A LOT, like orgiaque type feasts, politicians and military men that acted according to the will of a woman, the whole female industry ( shoes, dresses, clothes, underwear, cosmetics, etc...) that wants women sexier and sexier, or the world of movies itself (i can remember not a single movie that didnt have a sex/love-making/kissing scene).

Sheva Alomar, secondary n primary outfit

Considering the above, the gaming industry comes to play its own role in that sex driven world. From the early gaming days (when graphics were more than a few pixels) we have the appearance of the first female characters. Its like a tradition these days for the female characters to be designed really hot, sexy or provocative, which is a tested way for the manufacturers to raise the number of sales! I literally cant recall a video game with an ugly girl protagonist or anything closer to the girl next door. All of them have to be sexy, lightly dressed, fit and luscious even if the game that they are in is a survival horror (see Sheva Alomar of Resident Evil 5)

Chun-Li

Chun-Li n her legs!

One of them was Chun -Li (Street Fighter) one of the first playable female characters in the gaming history and she appeared in Street Fighter II. Its needless to say that she was one of the most famous female characters in fighting games back in the day, and we owe that to her sexy modified qipao (an early 20th century, body-hugging, female dress) that in her case was modified to maximize her fighting effectiveness. She was quite a site for sore eyes, when the fans of the game were used to playing with characters as Ken or Ryu, especially when she was using her legs to attack!!!

Lula The Sex Empire

And all this for some kickass chick with a sexy outfit! And what about when it comes to an actual pornstar video game heroine? And of course im talking about Lula. A sexy busty blondie who is nothing more than the descritpion above. But even that was more than enough to send some eroticly geeky vibes to the gaming community! It is noteworthy that Lula games were forbidden in several United States such as California. Even the cover of the first game "Lula: The Sex Empire" was like the one found in 90's porn!

Kinky Larry Laffer

Damn! I almost forgot Larry!  Larry Laffer is a 40 years old loser, who wears a leisure suit n always tries to hit on sexy women with his kinky, sick, slimy way (COOOOL!!!) with not much success! The games that are basically adventure and full of humor, boobs, legs, and naked girls so what more is there to ask??? U can easily imagine what a big change and renovation it was back then, if u think that in  most games u had to kill little ghosts (pac-man), or to destroy spaceships or alien (Alien Invaders) etc. Id personally love it! :P


Who doesnt remember BloodRayne? That bloody-thirsty, leather-dressed damphyr, who was slaying endlessly her enemies while showing every curve of her body with such a charming way! BloodRayne is still one of the hottest video game heroines out there and will be for a long time!

Damn black stripes

And of course there is Lara Croft that we all know so well for her killer curves who is starring in the Tomb Raider series. Her butt n boobs was a subject for long conversations and a fantasy for most of the gamers. I still remember playing Tomb Raider 3 on playstation and trying to find cheats to get her nude!!! The actual gameplay always came second!


Many are the games that have explicit sex scenes or just imply sex. Some of them are 7 sins, GTA, Gothic 3, The Witcher, even Fable and Divine Divinity! The games are full of whores, or girls that just wanna have sex, brothels, kinky comments and so on. I found it so cool in The Witcher, Fable and Gothic 3, u actually could have sex (NEEEERD) and that there was a lovemaking cut-scene!! Even if digital video game girls are not sexy, they definitely are cute like Coco Bandicoot or Dixy Kong. U know the combination, huge eyes, huge eye lasses, an innoncent childish look and a lovely smile can give u the cuttest little thing! I dont wanna begin listing games with sexy chicks (i just refered to the most noteworthy), Id prefer to write a book instead! Though i believe that whatever contains sex/nude in big doses most of the times that happens because it has flaws (Tomb Raider, DOA etc.), still this is a good promoting way  and an easy money-maker. So as long as sex sells, everyone wants to benefit from it. So simple as that. Sex n sensuality can be everywhere and fortunately in games as well, so we have one more reason to melt our brains playing!

BloodRayne n her ... blades!

Original vs. Counterfeit Game Boy Cartridges - How To Tell the Difference

All these years i have layed eyes n played with many not original cartridges for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance as well. Judging by the first look counterfeit carts seem quite legit but if u take a closer look many differences become obvious. Ok, fake cartridges might be a little cheaper than the original but they are quite unreliable products. There isnt any guarantee for ur system in case of damage, and the game saves usually get corrupted without any specific reason. Im gonna explain n display with photos some of them, so u know how to tell the difference by urself. 

1. Nintendo Logo

First of all as u all should have noticed on the top of front side of a game boy cartridge u can see clearly the "Nintendo GAME BOY Tm" logo. Well, in the fake cartridges all u can see there is just "GAME BOY" or "GAME" etc. Thats a serious reason to start suspecting that something is wrong with ur cart.

2. Printed Sticker 

There are some cases where the stickers on the fake carts are well made so many times we can be cheated. But in some cases the printed sticker is:

- Blur

- Not fit exactly to the sticker frame

- Wrong colors

- Out of proportion 

- The sticker may say that its a Gameboy Advance game although its on a gameboy cart

Sticker Comparison ( left - original / right - fake)

Original / Fake Gameboy Cartridge Screw

3. Nintendo Screw

On the back of the cart u can see the screw that holds the front n back sides together. In the original carts that screw is a very peculiar one, that needs specific screwdrivers in order to unscrew it. On the other side, the fake carts, use convensional screw that u can find in any hardware store. They cover up those screws with stickers saying things like "dont remove" or something like that, to prevent users from removing it and revealing the fake screw.

4. Bottom Side (Nintendo/Date Printed)

As far as the Gameboy Advance carts there is a very easy way to tell the difference between fake and original ones (if u dont consider things as the not so well printed sticker or the not so well molded logo). If u turn the cart over, u can see the side that actually connects with the Gameboy system in order to function. There are some "golden" stripes (we used to blow them when the cart didnt function right!!!). Right Behind those golden stripes in the original carts u see printed the word "Nintendo" and the release date. Guess what? In the fake ones theres nothing printed there. Here is a link explaining exactly what i mean.

http://www.gamerascal.co.uk/counterfeits.php

You can also open a cartridge to see and compare the inside but that requieres some technical knowledge ( u can also use guides from all over the internet).

    

Kirby's Dream Land Review (Game Boy)

Kirby's Dream Land Game Boy cover 1992

Yesterday night i couldnt go to sleep (maybe cos of the 8 coffees? Who knows) so i decided to play some retro classic masterpieces. I was between Kid Icarus and Kirby's Dreamland (for the old school game boy). Well i think u can tell which one won just by reading the title!

I still remember the awesomeness that the first experience gave me when i first played Kirby's Dreamland on game boy when i was 8 or 9 years old. It was like : "WOW!!! Hey hey look, its a..a..round cute thing that sucks the enemies making the most joyful sounds", or like "Hey thats the sweetest vacuum cleaner ever". And all that feelings were multiplied by the music. But before i get carried away lets start from the beggining. Actually Kirby's Dream Land is a 2D one-way platform game made for the classic Nintendo Game Boy, which was followed afterwards by a bunch of sequels on that very console and its offsprings too.

PLOT: 8/10

Kirby's Dreamland is about a roly-poly little hero, with the happiest smile on his face, that tries to save the day. An evil king has stolen the Twinkle Stars and the Dream Land is doomed without them. So Kirby sets out and starts an non-stop full of action quest to retrieve them and be once again a hero! The plot, if u consider the release date (1992), and also that it was destined for a younger audience, is really good n catchy!

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

The easy-to-learn gameplay of Kirby's Dream Land, soon enough, becomes quite addictive, as all u have to do is run or fly by swallowing air (just press up button), jump with the action button A, and swallow/spit enemies with button B. Just with a few minutes of gameplay u ll find urself trying to suck everything is moving, and to smash enemies Super Mario-like blocks. Id rate that masterpiece with 10/10 just for its simple yet attractive gameplay, but instead i gave it 9/10 cos its really short lenghted. There are 4 stages that u have to finish. Each one has its own boss u need to win as well, n then u have to defeat those bosses again (after a quite short version of each one's stage). And eventually u fight against the final boss King Dedede. It didnt take more than 40 or 50 minutes to beat the game.

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 10/10

Its atmosphere is based mostly on the happy cute n playful music. Simple and catchy yet sweet and addictive ( i remember myself  playing, when i was a boy, going up and down according to the tune like i was injected with caffeine). Its sound effects blend in with the music really smoothly making them an integral part of it. Even if when u die the sound effect is lovely!

Kirby's flying

GRAPHICS: 10/10

Well about graphics. There's not much to tell here except for that they are definitely not poor (u can clearly see the shading even on the clouds and the flowers on the foreground) but they dont become overwhelming either. All those fluffy clouds n cute monsters are so sweetly n well made that u think they are made of sugar! One of the few game boy games that the actual game was as cool as its cover!

OVERALL: 9.25/10

As a conclusion to this review, Kirby's Dreamland is one big lovely dose of fluffy cuteness that every gamer can hardly miss it! Even if u have never played it before give it a try and u surely will be amazed to say the least or if u wont be ... well then u re not worthy to be a gamer!!! :D 

Pink Kirby