Guitar, Hero?

Yes, oh yes, Geemusentaa is back from the dead. Not for any particular reason, just, well because I've nothing much to do at this particular time. Plus I've finished watching all of Season 3 of House, so yeah.

So what better to revive a blog than something negative, controversial and going against what everyone else thinks. Yeah, welcome to my blog.

What I'm talking about is the much love game of Guitar Hero 2. Specifially the Xbox360 version, though I guess this could possibly apply to the PS2 variation, maybe, maybe not, as my issue isn't the game alone.

Now don't get me wrong, I love ryhthem games, I own quite a few and while I'm not as "killer" at them as some people, I still enjoy them a lot. Where I run into issues with these kinds of games is track variation. Sure, it's "Guitar" Hero you say, hence the who rock/guitar emphasis. It's also not my scene, I don't know a fair amount of tracks on the game which really does make it less enjoyable. I hate when games become a slog, and I'm thinking half way through a song I'm playing, "Jesus christ when does this end". That's really not fun. I'm sure a telling sign is the fact that the song I enjoyed the most was "More Talk Less Rokk" by Freezepop, and "Jordan" by Buckethead was also pretty up there.

I'm actually going to go with that as my biggest gripe with this game, as rocking out is pretty damn fun. But shit, do you need that many metal tracks? Why not split it up and have a bit more variety. Original tracks would be far far more intereting than dodgey covers of some overplayed classic "rock" tracks.

My other issue. $160. One hundred and sixty fucking dollars. Now I'm not cheap when it comes to gaming, I'm willing to spend quite a bit on it. But, for a single game, even with a controller, it's a lot to ask. To me it just doesn't seem worth it at the end of the day. I considered the fact that they might release the Guitar Hero tracks onto Marketplace at some point. So, again, I'd have to pony up even more cash. Might actually be worth it for another Freezepop track. Just kidding, well maybe.

I'm sure anyone reading this thinks, "oh what the fuck does this guy know, he's just some techno faggot". Sure I like electronica, but it doesn't stop me from getting into a wide range of music. But that doesn't even matter, a game like GH2 should have more range in it to entice someone like me. But I feel like everyone gives this game "awesome-o" reviews because it's the thing to do. Maybe they don't and eveyrone really does love the shit out of it, and that this game while overloaded with bad metal and rock is a great game and it's been proven by it's popularity and sales.

Thanks For Nothing

I read a lot of gaming new sites, you know, it's just my thing. I like to know what's going on in the industry and keep up to date. Recently thanks to the impending release of the PS3, it seems that every second post is about it. I'd probably take more interest, maybe not be so bitter if Sony was actually going to release the console in this country sometime soon. It's not that I really care, I'm not sure if I would buy one on release, especially since I saw the price mentioned somewhere in the area of $999. It would be nice to have the option to pick up the unit, not that any of the titles so far really blow me away, from what I've seen that is.

It's more to the point that Sony again, feels the need to neglect the whole of the PAL territories. Oh maybe it's that we don't buy a lot of consoles, oh wait, were one of, if not the biggest market. Yeah thanks Sony, we support you and you make "us" wait, nice logic there.

Mmm Splintery

After doing the whole late night shopping thing I managed to pick up my copy of Splinter Cell Double Agent. I've no idea why, when I go late night shopping there are just hundreds of kids hang about doing what seems to be, bugger all. I guess you look cooler when you're at a mall or... something.

Anyway enough of that. Double Agent, which I only managed to put a small amount of time into last night, is from my initial impressions pretty much in the same vein as previous SC games. I've not played SC in a long long time, I think the last one I got into was Pandora Tomorrow. So I did the training missions to get back into the game and the control system. Controls are pretty standard, though it took me sometime to adjust to them again. The tanning missions are nice and open, non of the "press this button" or "walk here". It basically gives you an objective, gives you tips on the controls, and then lets you go about experimenting to complete the objective. It's a nice way of doing it, except the bloody while matrix style room they put you in is utter arse, as you can tell one thing from another most of the time.

The first mission is great and not hard at all, it's a nice way to get back into the feel of things. It seems pretty much like classic SC to me. Though one nice touch is that completing certain secondary objectives, like not setting off an alarm, opens up new gadgets later on.

I've seen people rave about the graphics, and while yeah they look great and seem fairly polished, it's not some sort of huge leap over anything else. Not really as much "wow factor" as the other SC's had on the Xbox. I'm not sure why, but I'm wondering if this had been an 360 exclusive title and not ported to every goddamn console they could find, if the graphics could have been better.

Already!

Well, I just got a call from my local EB, apparently Splinter Cell Double Agent is in. Unfortunately I can't pick it up till tomorrow, but it's nice to know it's now avalible.

Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday

Well thanks to the possible collapse of a certain overpass, my week is going to be interesting. Also Splinter Cell: Double Agent should drop tomorrow, oh yes, it's been a long time coming.

I recently picked up Dragon Quest 8 and Ridge Racer 6.

Now Ridge Racer 6 is the usual, it's similar to Ridge Racers on the PSP, though doesn't seem as fast paced as. Maybe it's just the classes I've played so far, apart from it seeming ridiculously easy it's still decent. My biggest gripe is that most of the cars feel and drive the same, even the different makes are only have minor changes to them, which to me seems pointless. Anyway I'll play the rest, see how it pans out.

Now Dragon Quest 8. I swear this game has the hardest start to it than any other game. Sure it's ok once you get into it, but Jesus wept, when I'm playing a new game, and an RPG at that, I be a gradual increase in difficulty so I'm not frustrated. I did read that this game was a little harder at the start, and it bloody well is. I like the game besides that so I'll carry on with it, I just wish it didn't seem like such a struggle at times.

Leave It To PR Please

It's funny the things people with say when under pressure to look like they know what they are doing, and are in control of a situation. Case in point, Sony exec Michael Ephraim on Screen Play. Where oh, where to start. Firstly, don't attack rivial consoles when you have failed to release yours in the same time frame, and have left PAL territories waiting the longest as usual. Oh but how can I forget "PAL gamers don't mind waiting". Oh no, I fucking love that aspect of always having to wait for every goddamn release the longest. Just because we are always the last, doesn't mean we actually like it.

Secondly, bringing up the price point of rival consoles, especially when yours costs twice the price of one of them, is not a great idea. Trying to use this as leverage in an argument to make your product look better is poor, very poor.

I like how the focus of the Xbox360 is apparently "too narrow". I amazed that this is brought up. The 360, having been out for nearly around a year now has a fairly decent line up of titles across a range of genres. Now just because they choose not to release trash like "Singstar" or some other god awful fad title does not make their vision narrow. I'm sure Sony's launch line up of sequels has a much "broader" vision in mind.

Don't think I'm taking sides here, Sony just need to keep their execs from speaking in public.