Nintendo 3ds try out.

Taking a break from mmo's for a bit as I try out new games and general normal life things.
Whilst in town the other day I saw a Nintendo booth where you can try out the 3ds. I was exited to say the least as I knew that it would be a while before I could actually buy one. Even though £189.99 isn't that bad I don't make enough to get one. Anyway I waited in line and as I entered they had a mini museum dedicated to Nintendo handhelds, from the game and watch collection to the DSI ( I noticed that they didn't have a virtual boy which lead of to believe that Nintendo are trying to forget that piece of crap!).

So finally it was my turn to play the 3ds. There wasnt much left to play as rayman and the likes were taken by other players. So the first game I played was the Sims 2. It was the best console version of the series but playing it in 3d hurt my eyes. I don't know weather it was because it was my first time or what, but whenever my head moved even the slightest my eyes had to re adjust and I got retrain again. I moved to the next game. Super money ball. This game was fun. Just like original but using the 3d have it even more of a challenge. So I would have to say that to get the best out of the 3d element in for the more action based games and ones where there lot of reading to switch the 3d off (a nice feature to have but without it all your left with is a DS.

The menu screen is nice and what in 3d looks really good with your game in the background. The cameras work well, a lot better than most phone cameras. The MII maker is fun but without enough light you will get some less than flattering pictures!

The controls are pretty much identical with the obvious addition of the thumb stick, a sometimes over sensitive analog control, but that way have been the way the assistants calibrated it. It looks weird on a Nintendo handheld but with some of the titles due out this year I can see why it was needed (metal gear?)

My only fear for the 3ds is with the pain I received whilst playing. Nintendo know about this and that is why they have advised playing for no more than 30 minutes! I would suggest that after half an hour just turn the 3d off for a bit. However if this continues to be a problem and people start to complain them we could see a repeat of the virtual boy. But I certainly hope not.

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MMO - Digimon battle.

Oh god this game is bad! Digimon battle was originally an mmo from Korea and at the time I remember trying really hard to get this thing to work. But with the inability to read Korean and the massive download size of 350mb! I gave up.

Years later I find that it has finally been translated and available to play for free. And holy Shit was it worth it? No!!

The game is set during the 3rd series of the digimon anime (tamers) . So already this game is out of date. YOu get the choice of the 3 main characters with the ability to customize your appearance later on.
As you can tell by the screenshots. The graphics are poor. Considering this game came out in 2002 it looks like PSX graphics ok maybe a little smoother but not much!. Not somthing i would expect from bandai.

The battles work as you would expect from a digimon game. At the start you can pick between growlmon, terriamon and the bunny one I can't remember. You then wonder round the digital world and fight digimon in turn based battles with some of the worst music I've heard in years. The graphics throughout to game look incredibly dated at first I thought I was playing a fan made game.

Now I know that this game is pretty old and that I shouldn't expect it rt stand up to todays standards. But come on, even when this game was new it was crap. I really don't know why they even bothered to translate it. And if they went to all to trouble of doing that why not try and update the graphics? The sounds are annoying, the game is incredibly slow in places and trying capture new digimon is next to impossible. Should you ever want to torture yourself with this here is the link: http://digimonbattle.wemade.net/main/main.asp
The saddest thing is. This is the closest we are going to get to a pokemon mmo.

A new digimon mmo is in The works and is due to be released some time this year. From the look of it, it already looks a Hell of a lot better tin this piece of Shit. Avoid it.
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MMO - Champions Online Free for All

Ok its pretty old i know but not so long ago they released a free version so here it is.

Story:
Not much to say really. You are a hero in Fill-in-the-blank City and your job is to protect the people. Simple. There is a JLA clone lead by some super douche called Defender who are ready to give you adie and advance the plot.
What is good is how you get a Nemesis and this arch enemy is determind on what you do in the game, these range from gangster style villians to hyper alien death machines.

Character Creation:

Champions online has one of the best character creation systems i've seen so far. Unlike games like WoW where you can alter your characters beard, Champions Online allows you to increase mussle size, face structure, giving you the ability to create any hero you desire.
Now obviously you can make a perfect Spiderman or Superman but you can come very close. The full version allows you to combine any powers to fit your own style hero, where as in the free version you can only select a few base heroes but can still have some fun with it. I was able to create an almost perfect Daredevil (i could only get one "D" on his outfit XD). YOu do get a lot to choose from already but if you have the cash spare you can purchase more from the game's shop.

Gameplay:
The thing about mmorpgs is that the gameplay is pretty much the same. Althought with Champions you do get the abiliity to travel round the city like your hero should (Fly, Super-Speed, Leaping tall buildings in a single bound etc) although the free version doesn't allow my personal favorite; the rope swing, that would have been awesome!!!! Quests see generic i've not played it enough to do any major event quests but the ones i did were just your basic "take this tho him"or "rescue 7 people" there are lots of mini quests which when completed raise your star points, these allow you to be more active and health regenerates quicker, you get a maximum of 5 stars and the more baddies you defeat the quicker you gain back stars, I was on a mission where i was miles away from a shop i had dick all items and i died A LOT this meant that my stars were really low which meant that i wasn't as good as i should have been (alright i was crap!). an annoying system i know but it did make me think twice before running in to battle.

Everything else:
Not really much else to say, i've never reviewed a mmorpg before (well i've never reviewed a game before!) there are a lot of powers and skills to learn (Science, Arcaine etc) if you are able to take the time you can create a pretty good character.

Overall:
Good game the free version does have its limitations of course but being a fan of all things super heroic i did enjoy the creation aspect. missions were weird at one point i went from fighting off an alien horde to stalking a mugger. a good superhero brawl complete with whams and kapows camp villians and damsels in distress to really put you in the comic book world.

Right 1 down few to go. Sorry it took so long but i've been busy. but i will do another one.

Next Week: Digimon Battle! (oh god!)

The Search for Freebies - MMO Private Servers

I've always wanted to play MMO's ever since i first saw runescape many years ago (I did try RS but the graphics and the fact that i didn't know jack about online roleplay put me off, I might try again.) It just seemed like a really good idea, playing with actual people who could think for themselves and talk about where to go and what to do and generally playing the game. When Square announced Final Fantasy 11 i was gob smacked. An entire world to explore full of weird creatures and amazing adventure. A virtual world where i could be anyone, do anything and just have fun.....

FOR £8 A MONTH!!!!!!!

Ok it's not a lot of money but i was just a kid back then and the only cash i got was from my IT course (payed work exp, not much!), i didn't get pocket money so i had to beg my dad to pay for it. As it happens i spent all summer playing it so i was able to get as far as i could be arsed before the trial ended (also my laptop broke.)

But the point i was trying to make was that i really hated the fact that i had to pay to play a game that i had already payed for.

Cut to years later and World of Warcraft completely changed the way we view MMO's, 12 Million people play this thing it must be good, I'm going to go play it right no-...oh shit you still have to subscribe.

So i'm searching for new games to play when the words "private server" came up. Now unlike most things on the internet with the word private in it it wasn't porn but infact a way for people to play online games with out subscribing.

Most of the time it involves playing a specific version of the game and making a few changes to some reg files. There were thousands of sites all saying how shit hot they were "Come and join us get free gold", "Come and join us and get to Level 80 in a minute!", " Come and join us and a hot naked chick will dance around you as you play!!!" Eventualy i came across Molten WOW (https://www.molten-wow.com/) They have 4 servers each designed for differant players weather you like completing quests and gaining levels or pwning noobs and tea bagging. They also have a point system where you can get items and other cool stuff, you can obtain points by donating to the site or voting for it. They have a really good community aswell if you are stuck the forum will either have the solution or someone will help you there are hundreds of guilds to join and they even have there own events in the game. I highly recommend joining if you want to play wow but either don't have the cash or just want to play longer than the trial.

Anyway I quickly joined up and after spending 3 days downloading WoW (from the official site before you all shout "THIEF") I was in. I created my character and set out in a new world of adventure. I completed a few quests and was getting the hang of it when someone challenged me to a duel and i thought "Ah yes, come, let us test our strength it the field of battle good sir!"...He one-hit-killed me and then began tea bagging me. That was my only duel. But it taught me an important lesson about free gaming. Its full of twats. Yes there are people who play it seriously and will help rather than hinder but there are also those who would point and laugh when you ask for help. My advice stay out of the chatbox until you jion a guild other wise you'll get nothing but flame wars and cock jokes.

A few days ago my computer had a massive virus and i lost everything, including WoW. I want to play it again but just dont want to wait the week or so it would take to download, i could go out out and by it but hey this is the search for freebies! i have a few mates who have the cd's so one day i'll play again.

Until then stay tuned as i go about searching for a Wow substitute, over the next few weeks i'll be reviewing some free MMO's and in the end i'll give you my top 5.

Laters.

things to come.

I'm now toying white idea of doing video reviews. There is just two minor drawbacks. 1 I don't have a web cam and 2 I'm ugly as sin. SO I might be doing a weird toony thing. STay tuned.

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Risen from the Ashes!!

Many years ago I thought that if i painted up an old gameboy i could sell it on ebay for a fair amount (I know stupid idea). Anyway i asked on freecycle if anyone had anything that i could mod into something cool(ish). After a few days of nothing i got an email from a lady who was cleaning out her loft and found an old, broken original gameboy. After meeting up and getting the Gameboy I went home to see if i could fix it.

Nothing.

It was a brick.

Fastforward to a couple ago, my son, Connor has starred to play with my consoles. I cringe at first but its cool, i know that he's more important :D.

Anyway he's got the GB ( since its broke i figured what the hell) He's pushing buttons and shaking it then chucks it on the floor. He then has a bit to eat ,some fruit, takes the tub and pours the juice ALL OVER THE GAMEBOY. Literally the whole thing was soaking. So i clean it up and put it on the radiator to dry.

I forget it.

HOURS later I pick it up, its hot!, my wife Emma was concerned that melted plastic could be dangerous to Connor so i put it up out of the way. Later on connor is playing with my Neo Geo Pocket and wants it turned on, I plug it in and he plays with i for 2 seconds before wanting the GB back.

Out of shear curiosity. I plugged the Gameboy in.

It WORKED.

Apart from a few lines on the screen this thing was perfect. My son, my 15 month old son is a GENIUS!!!!!

You dont need technical know how to fix stuff. Just fruit juice and a radiator.

I love my son :D

Epic Mickey (Nintendo Wii)

Mickey Mouse. Corperate icon for the Disney Company since 1928 and all round cheerful cheeky chappy. Not exactly the first thing that prings to mind when you think "Dark" but in Epic Mickey for the Wii you can clearly see another side to the Disney coin.


Epic Mickey sees us once again take on the role of of the classic character as he finds a portal to a mirror universe and spies The Sorcerer (from Fantasia) putting the final touches to a beautiful world he has created for all the forgotton Disney characters to live in. Mickey waits for the Sorcerer to leave and then decideds to have a go himself, he picks up a magic paint brush and tries to paint himself, unfortunatly the mickey shapped blob turns into a monster and tries to eat him. Mickey quickly grabs some paint thinner and defeats the Blot monster. He tries to fix the damage done to the Sorcerer's world and quickley leaves. Time goes by and we see quick montage of mickeys career from Steamboat Willie to Fantasia untill one night the creature from before kidnaps Mickey in his sleep. He awakes to find himself strapped to a table in the Mad Scientists lab. It is here where the game begins.

First impressions.
When i first saw screens for this game i was gob smacked. Finaly a deceant Mickey game. Not since the mid nineties and Mickey Mania has a Disney game looked so good. The darkness of the levels, the music, the chearcter design. It just screamed...er...Epic(Oh thats where the name came from! :D) I knew I had to play it!

Gameplay.
The basis of the game is that Mickey is trapped in wasteland armed with only his wits and the magic paintbrush. With the brush you are able to use two type of attack; Paint thinner, which you can use to kill enemies and melt walls, and Paint which you can use to turn the baddies into goodies and also fix the stuff you just destroyed with the thinner. Now i know that sounds a bit stupid but there ares time when you need to use both to progress through the game using thinner to get past obstacles and paint to create platforms. The game is a third person platformer so the controls are easy to learn, the nunchuck controls your movements and by pressing the Z button you can spray paint thinner everywhere and the wii-mote lets you jump and spray Paint everywhere (think Jet Set Radio meets Mario Sunshine). Apart from the paint the controls are pretty much the same to Mario Galaxy your attack is exactly the same, shake the wii-mote and Mickey will spin into the enemies knocking them back. The only downside is the cammera, you'd think after 15 or so years of the 3d platformer they'd have finaly cracked a decent control for the camera but no, i found i was having to edge it nearly all the time because i was either missing jumps or not being able to see where i was going.



Graphics.
Beautiful. The way Wasteland is designed is to look like a dark and twisted Disney World, a kind of post-apaocolyptic theme park. Mickey is back to his original look as he was in his early cartoons there a a few cameos of characters each looking spectacular. The fluidness (is that a word?) of the paint works well, effects in the levels such as fire dont look to crap. The cutscenes, unlike the intro are not FMV but instead they've gone for the animated book style like Sonic and the Secret Rings, but that didnt bother me, its just a great looking game.


Music.
Not much to say about the music really. Its Disney so its very Fantasia-esc and quite dark but there are times when it really blends into the background almost to the point where i forgot it was there at all.

Highs.
Its a good game, Its fun, its dark. The side levels where you travel between lands are 2d platformers set in differant cartoons. Which is awesome (i know i proberbly should have put that in gameplay but i forgot and cant be arsed!). Playing it took me right back to Mickey Mania and Castle/World of Illusion.

Lows.
Ok the camera did make me want to scream a bit after it caused me to die countless times, and
once I realised what it had in common with mario with the controls it did feel a bit un-original. Sometimes i found i was running out of paint while trying to get past a certain puzzle and i had to go a long way to get more.

Overall.
Mickey is back and better than ever showing us that just because he's Disney's mascot doesnt mean he cant kick ass. But is it Epic? No not really. I mean its fun to play and the graphics
are stunning but with its Mario-ish Controls and dodgy cameras you realise that its just another platformer. I wouldn't run out and buy it now, rather i'd wait till the price goes down or get it 2nd hand.

Rating.
7/10
Beautiful, well designed. Yet unoriginal.



Hey first review done!!!!

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