Review: Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD

Posted on December 27, 2011 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Just Add Water

Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Score: A

It’s been far too long since an Oddworld game has appeared on a console, but it looks as if the drought is finally over in a huge way. One of the best original Xbox games finally returns and yes, makes an even more spectacular PS3 debut. After playing through Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, I’m thinking a few of this year’s “Best of 2011” lists will need to be rewritten to add this gem. This outstanding remake features reworked HD visuals, lovely 60 frames per second animation, newly recorded voice acting and even better sound design than the original game. It also holds up incredibly well as a stellar single-player game thanks to a great story with an excellent plot twist or two, some fine and witty dialog and a great Oddworld vibe that’s still fresh today as it was back in 2005. Continue reading →

PlayStation Vita Launch Lineup (25 Games & Counting)…

Posted on December 26, 2011 by geelw

It looks as if SCEA is absolutely making sure Vita owners have ZEO complaints about a weak launch/launch window lineup. Below is the official listing of Vita games scheduled to hit retail and digital (through PSN) when the new handheld is released on February 22, 2012. Based on the nice selection of genres here, there are more than enough titles to take care of nearly anyone’s gaming needs. In addition, SCEA has clarified the memory card pricing structure (it’s slightly lower that initially reported by some outlets) as well as announced a bunch of cool accessories, but you’ll need to head below the jump to read all about those…

PS Vita Launch Titles (Pricing ranges from from $9.99 – $49.99 US)

Escape Plan (SCEA, PSN Only)
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (SCEA)
Hustle Kings (SCEA, PSN Only)
Little Deviants (SCEA)
ModNation Racers: Road Trip (SCEA)
Super StarDust Delta (SCEA, PSN Only)
UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss (SCEA)
wipEout 2048 (SCEA)
Army Corps of Hell (Square Enix)
Asphalt Injection (Ubisoft)
BEN10 GALACTIC RACING (D3Publisher of America)
Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND (Akysys)
Dungeon Hunter Alliance (Ubisoft)
Dynasty Warriors Next (Tecmo Koei)
F1 2011 (Codemasters)
EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer (EA Sports)
Lumines Electronic Symphony (Ubisoft)
Michael Jackson The Experience (Ubisoft)
Plants vs. Zombies (SOE, PSN Only)
Rayman Origins (Ubisoft)
Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen (Namco Bandai)
Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (Drinkbox Studios, PSN Only)
Touch My Katamari (Namco Bandai)
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (Capcom)
Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition (Sega)
Launch window titles plus Memory Card and accessory pricing are a click away… Continue reading →

Gallery: PlayStation 2 Import Library

Posted on December 26, 2011 by geelw

Yikes. I hadn’t realized that I’d sold off more than half of what I had until I started going through my PS2 stuff. Most of it was budget-priced Simple 2000 stuff, launch/launch window titles and a few oddities. Still, I thought I had a bit more than what’s here. Hey, as long as I have my Chikyuu Boueigun and Onechanbara games plus some of the other fun stuff here, I’m set. Of course, I’ve played a LOT more imports than I actually own and thankfully, my PS1 collection is a lot larger (although it’s shrunk a bit over time from the insane pile it once was). Then again, I’m still nowhere near the back end of the tower of games yet, so a few more PS2 imports may spring up in the coming weeks. We shall see…

Gallery: U.S. PlayStation & PlayStation 2 Demo Disc Library (Part One)

Posted on December 26, 2011 by geelw

Absolutely not a complete set at all (I’m missing about 15 OPM discs from the later end of the mag’s run as well as a bunch of PS1 demos), but there’s a nice selection here that’s always great for reference purposes. It’s too bad US gamers didn’t see a lot of PS3 demo discs like the ones released overseas in the UK and Asian territories. At this point in time I only know of a handful of PS3 demo discs that were released here but I could be wrong. I actually need as many of them as possible just so I can see what actually made it out around the world. I really, REALLY miss the great days of being surprised by some cool US demo discs popping up in the mail, that’s for sure. I have some other PS1 and PS2 demos and Jampacks in a big box of PS1 games (or behind a few hundred games currently stacked on top of a dresser) that I’ll post at a later date.

Gallery: Xbox/Xbox 360 Demo Library

Posted on December 26, 2011 by geelw

I’m missing a few Official Xbox Magazine demo discs as you can see, but overall, I’m happy with what’s here. Actually, I have disc 31 in a slim case buried in a stack of games here (and possibly a few other demo discs), and disc 2 was supposed to come with the second issue a few years back. However, all I got after I subscribed was the mag itself and NO disc (grrr). As for the later discs I’m missing. I’ll dig those up at some point, as I see small to medium size lots floating around a few places for cheap. I actually want more single game demo discs as well as kiosk discs, as I know there are a bunch out there I don’t have yet. One day, one day…

Merry Xmas And All That Stuff (Update Division)…

Posted on December 25, 2011 by geelw

Good thing I was awake, as I just got an email letting me know I left out a link to the Muzzle Flash review I’d posted on GameFaqs. Well, it’s now fixed (see the original post below), so go read that novella of a review if you want to. Yes, it’s long as hell for such a bad game and I need to go back and correct at least one sentence that I know of. But the game is SO awful that the bad parts need to be explained (because heck, I know many of you won’t even get to play the game at all). Hope Santa Claws got you what you wanted. I got what I wanted (well, partly), so I’m a happy camper that’s going back to bed now, Zzzzzzzz…

Gallery: Xbox Import Library (PAL & NTSC-J)

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Yes, it’s a tiny selection, but hey, I’m working on it (albeit very sloooowly, thanks to not having any spare funds these days). Anyway, the good, the bad and the ugly here, as in Metal Wolf Chaos, Gene Troopers and Muzzle Flash. MWC is simply awesome (and a wee bit controversial, although a US demo was released), Gene Troopers is mostly awful but REALLY interesting as the weapons selection is amazing (and Insomniac Games would be proud of most of the guns here) and some of the visuals shine. Muzzle Flash is quite frankly, one of the worst games I’ve ever played for a few reasons I listed here. At least CT Special Forces, while equally hard and cheap, can actually be completed and is often intentionally hilarious. MF is just a total “m-f” to play and is one of those games it seems ONLY the folks who made it ever completed. When you lend a game out to six people and get it back with almost the EXACT same response, that’s a bad sign. I keep it around because I’m going to keep pecking away until I can complete it past the second stage (but it’s NOT on my bucket list, that’s for sure)…

Gallery: Assorted Preview/Review Disc Library

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Yes, I’ve kept almost everything I’ve gotten to preview and review (save for stuff I’ve had to send back), so here you go, a bunch of Xbox and PS2 games (plus a paltry few PS3 and 360 ones for good measure). Some are demos or incomplete beta versions, some are complete trade demos, check discs or debug code plus some quirky stuff like that E3 2006 PSP Memory Card. Of note are some titles that were almost to completely localized and SHOULD have been released (Dinosaur Hunting, and Rent-A-Hero #1), an awesome build of Arx Fatalis (it had the infamous “chicken cheat” from the PC version that was taken out of the console game plus a weird save game with a nude barkeep) and some other fun stuff. Yup, that’s Bedlam, an unreleased Sega Saturn game in the last photo (it was a port of a PC game). I haven’t played it, as I don’t have any way to at the moment, but it does have a nice Redbook soundtrack. Despite its popularity, I’m not one for “dumping” stuff, but I’m all for legal emulation on older unsupported consoles or abandonware PC titles.

Gallery: PlayStation & PS2 Demo Library (Japanese)

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Nowhere as many as I’d like to have and some aren’t pictured here, as I need to move about 500 or so games to get to the remaining few. I’ll update the gallery once I get that mighty task done. Some of these are incredible for what’s on the discs, from memory card download, interviews and exclusive content not seen outside Japan. Stuff like Net Yaroze demos (games made by those who bought the special Net Yaroze PlayStation model), some hilarious commercials and some great demos of games that were drastically different than what ended up on store shelves. The Project Zero disc is a DVD that features CG from the game and some other cool stuff, but isn’t playable. I know there are a ton of these non-playable demos out there, but I’m a lot more interested in trial version discs these days. The one other exception is the Summer Special 1996 disc that has a bunch of game trailers including the first look at Metal Gear Solid. That long movie was created entirely with in-game asset and actually makes the game look like a more action-packed experience than it turned out to be.

SCEA To Release Three More PSP UMD Dual Packs In January

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Nice. Sony is smart enough to NOT unceremoniously kill off the PSP when the Vita launches in North America, but they are doing something about the rather massive stock of leftover PSP’s and first party UMD’s I hope every publisher with a decent PSP back catalog gets into. Three more UMD Dual Packs are headed to retail in January 2012 and all come highly recommended whether you’re a newly Xmas-gifted PSP owner or a die-hard with the 1000 to 3000 series that hasn’t yet played these gems. To those who somehow don’t know why Sony is still dealing with UMD’s with the Vita about to land in February, there are a few simple reasons. Continue reading →