Back again?

So I’m writing this at the time of 6.21pm on the 9th January 2009, first of all let me say how quick the entire year has gone, I’ve been in my current job nearly a year (which is so depressing) but the money I got from that job I got a new car and other stuff that I wanted so at least the job has it’s uses. Also, throughout the year I’ve made some awesome online friends from YouTube who I’ll continue to stay friends with for a very long time I hope. And as for the time, I have only 40 minutes of “freedom” before I start my stressful plan for my college work. I’ve become very behind in my work (I’m still about 2 months ahead of everyone else in terms of how much work I’ve done but I’ve definately not done enough and the deadline is week commencing 19th January) 10 DAYS!!!! FUCK!!!! I’ve got three projects to complete and I know I’ll do it if I put my mind to it, it’s just getting it all done in time. (Wish me luck!). So if you don’t hear from me within the next two weeks then you’ll know what I’m doing.

As for YouTube, I’ve got about 5/6 games that I need to do an update for plus I REALLY REALLY REALLY miss Sixty and Matt videos!!!!! GIVE US MORE! Especially you Sixty

When my deadlines for college are over I’m definately hoping to buy a couple of months of Xbox Live so I can play online, because I do love Xbox Live sooooo much! A few of you have been asking about Fable 2, GET THIS GAME! I mean it’s not as action packed as say … Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead BUT it has an awesome story line, the graphics are brilliant, the graphics on the cutscences are absolutely gorgeus, the combat system and leveling up is really good and you get some awesome moves and spells to cast on your foes. The enemies are pretty cool too, and the main bosses get (obviously) harder along the way which strengthens your characters. I love the whole idea of when you make decisions you change in someway, i.e. if you make a good/moral decision you get points in Good or Purity, whereas if you choose a bad decision or you do something which is consider bad (steal, murder the innocent, have sex with a prostitue LOL) then you get points in Corruption and Evil. It’s such a good game, I’ve tried the offline Multiplayer as well, my friend came over and he played as a “drop in” character which basically helps you with quests and combat, that was pretty awesome and I have yet to play the online co-op mode which I really want to do.

Also i bought the Guild Wars 14 day trial the other day, which I still have yet to finish, i think I may give myself a break at the weekend at some point and complete some of it as it was such a fun game when I started it the other day. I was thinking of getting World of Warcraft as I know Matt always says how good it is, and for the first time I actually saw some gameplay of it as my best friend’s brother has it and it looked AWESOME! but I’m not sure whether I’d want to pay monthly for it, I might just stick with Guild Wars for now.

Anyways hope everyone is OK.

Take Care

Fran

P.S. BUY FABLE 2 NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gears of War Review …

OK, so I finally managed to finish Gears of War, I’ve had the game for ages just never got round to actually playing it. Don’t ask how long it took me, didn’t take me ages but I played it over several days spending a few hours on it here and there. Overall, I thought the game was very short and lacked a little in storyline however the great gameplay mechanics and concepts throughout the game were fantastic.

Firstly the plot, the general storyline was pretty good. The game takes place on the fictional planet “Sera”, where a group of soldiers in a Delta Squad fight to save their plant from the enemy of the game, the Locust Horde. Even though the game had a good enough storyline, I still felt it lacked something maybe it could have had some twists or turns throughout the game which would have made the plot different from anything else.

Characters: The player takes the role of Marcus Fenix, an ex-prisoner and hardcore soldier. The other characters are Dominic Santiago who mainly fights with Marcus throughout the game, he’s a very loyal character and is driven by friendship and his family. Augustus Cole loves to be right in the action, he doesn’t mind getting dirty when fighting and Damon Baird is very intelligent and has a broad knowledge of technology, hacking, repairing etc, he’s also very sarcastic throughout the game which lightens the mood in several moments. Those are the four main protagonists which you will mainly see through gameplay, but during cut scenes there are other characters which drive the storyline.

The Gameplay:- The game is a third-person shooter with it’s main aim being to use as much cover as possible, whether it be walls, hedges, cars, columns, anything which could initially stop you from getting hurt or even stop death. The player can also assume different rolls/dodge movements to take cover. I feel one of the best movements is the sprint of “roadie run” (part croach, part run) which makes you harder to target. It’s not just this move thats great, but the ways its captured, the camera here lowers at the level of the character and becomes unsteady and feels like the camera is running behind the player, it’s very clever.

Like many shooters, there is no health bar as such, but if you are hit the COG symbol pops up on screen letting you know that you are wounded, and as you constantly get hit the symbol fills with blood which lets you know that you are severly wounded or even dieing and you need to take cover immediately. Once you’re covered the symbol fades away and you can carry on with gameplay. I like the idea that you don’t get a healthbar, this is quite a new concept, since the next generation consoles have emerged this has seemed to be a successful factor in gaming. The idea that you have to pick up health packs is getting quite old, so the idea that you don’t have to do that is brilliant in my eyes.

Weapons:- This game only hosts a small selection of weapons from pistols, shotguns, rifles and sniper rifles as well as the “Lancer” which is part assault rifle and part chainsaw (the damage done with this is awesome). When using the chainsaw on an enemy, the camera/screen is splattered with blood which is a really cool effect. There are also grenades which can be used, and some special weapons which can be picked up throughout the game including the “Hammer of Dawn” and a host of weapons from the enemy.  

Achievements:- I love achievements, I don’t have many to my name just yet but i love the idea that you get points when you’ve unlocked something.

The game comprises of three difficulty modes, Casual, Hardcore and Insane. When each act is completed on each mode you receive achievements, as well as receiving achievements for completing entire modes. The achievements can be unlocked on the single mode as well as the co-op mode. A lot of the achievements can be gained on the multiplayer modes, but I have yet to take a look at the multiplayer for this game.

Generally this game KICKS ASS! It’s fun, gorey in parts, good enough storyline to produce a sequel (which it has), some awesome maneuvers and a great set of characters. I love this game and can’t wait to get the sequel.

If you havn’t got this game yet, I’d recommend getting the Limited Collector’s Edition! Not only do you get an art book, making of DVD with great concept art and some interesting interviews but it also comes in a great tin box with a slip case. Gotta love the Collector’s Editions!

Hope you enjoyed this review.

Blog Out x

Hurrah!! …

I finally finished Gears of War 1 :-D (only on Casual mode though).

Such a great game, really can’t wait to get the second one. I shall be doing a review of my gaming experience on Gears 1 as soon as possible, hopefully tonight.

If any of you are interested I also completed Medium on Guitar Hero 3 (the last boss was so hard!). I’ve also been informed by SixtyXCelph that the Hard level includes the orange button – noooooo! I don’t have enough fingers! I’m thinking of getting GH: Aerosmith (possibly but not sure), and I’ll most definately be getting GH: World Tour and GH: Metallica when it comes out. I really want Rock Band 1/2 as well but they are so expensive here. If you’re not aware, in the UK Rock Band is sold differently to a lot of places. You get the Guitar, Drums and Microphone bundled together BUT you get NO copy of the game, you have to purchase that separetely so you have to pay an extra £40 on top of the £140 (approx) for the instruments! It’s rather annoying and causes you to have no money, so if/when I get this game it better be worth the money. Luckily GH: World Tour has everything in it which is great.

I’m out seeing “Saw 5″ tonight, should be good, I hope it’s not too disapppointing.

Anyways leave me nice comments as always

Blog Out xx

“Left 4 Dead” demo Review …

Ok, so I finally managed to download the demo for this game. After seeing the trailer for it there was no hesitation at all for me in downloading it (but I had to wait until it was available for download on Silver accounts which sucked.)

If you’ve seen the trailer then you’re one step ahead on this game, as that trailer is in fact the opening cut scene for the game/demo . You then choose your character out of the four main protagonists. (This game is also a co-op based game, you play one character and then the other three are computer characters, I think there is an option on mulitiplayer where you can get other friends (offline or online) to be your team mates but I havn’t tried out the multiplayer – maybe someone could let me know).

The demo initially starts out at the top of the building where you’are able to pick up health packs, ammo and choose between a couple of guns. You then go through a house of some sort fighting off zombies which when they spot you come running after you which is pretty entertaining, there are also a host of different monsters such as ones which when they explode cover you in a substance which blurs your vision, there’s also a monster which grabs you with it’s  tenticle (i think) and drags you along and attacks you. The monsters aren’t that bad ass but they are still fun either way.

You carry on through buildings until you get outside where if you set off any car alarms then zombies from every angle run at you which was pretty fun! Then you have to go down to the subway and kill off all the Zombies down there which was pretty cool. Eventually you get to a safe room and then thats the end of the demo. It’s not that long but it’s generally a really fun game. I forgot to mention there are times where you have to help your other team mates if they fall to the ground or get caught by a monster, and you also get points for protecting your team mates.

I think generally this game will be better than “Dead Rising” (havn’t played the full game but from Reviews that game seems to get a bit repetative), but I’m not sure whether it will conquer the classic “Resident Evil” games. Initially I really enjoyed playing this demo, and I definately will be getting this game at some point.

Let me know if you have the full game or intend on getting it and let me know your thoughts on the game.

Blog Out xx

Game Trailers and Demo Reviews …

So it has come to my attention that too many games are coming out that I need.

I was on Xbox Live today (only started being back on it since a couple of days ago because I couldn’t find my connection cable), anyways I downloaded some trailers for new games, I also downloaded some demos for games which are already out which I don’t own yet. I’ll discuss these with you, as these are some crazily awesome games!

First of all “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2:Fusion”, I do not own the first one, as I just havn’t got round to buying it yet, but i watched the trailer for that one and must admit it got me hooked into buying it so badly. So anyways MUA2 looks incredible, I love anything comic book related so this puts the cherry on the cake in terms of gaming. The idea of the “fusion” factor is very intriguing, the idea that the powers of two characters can be “fused” together to create a more dynamic attact is pretty cool. If you havn’t seen the trailer yet then go watch and you’ll see what i mean. This game is definately a must have!

“Left for Dead” – First of all, let me say this trailer was amazing!! It didn’t have any gameplay footage as such, but the trailer itself keeps you hooked. If you didn’t know it was a game, you’d think it was a movie! I’d definately go watch this if it was a movie! This is basically a Resident Evil type game …. guns! more guns! a few more guns! zombie outbreak! you get the idea! BUT don’t be fooled this is not your average run of the mill Zombie game, it’s apparently a multiplayer co-operative first person shooter ….. interested? I know I am! And not only that it’s made my Valve (only the guys who made Half Life and its successors) so they really know how to make good games! Go check out the trailer, or even better as of 11th November this demo will be available to download from Xbox Live – YAY!

“Dead Space” – I saw the making of/interview featurettes on Xbox Live, and I must say this game looks pretty decent! I like the idea of “dismemberment” – yes thats sick! BUT still totally cool! and apparently this will be one horror game that will give you an ultimate experience like you’ve never played before. Will definately be checking this game out. Check out the trailer!

“Resident Evil 5″ – Highly antisipated game of the last few years, really can’t wait to get this! Think it will look awesome on the 360! Saw the original teaser trailer (the one that sprung up a host of complaints about racism as there were black people in it), anyways saw the recent trailer for it, and it looks awesome. I heard there was a new feature of co-op mode which sounds particularly interesting. Will look forward to this one! Hope theres a collectors edition out!

“Halo 3:Recon” – CHECK THIS TRAILER OUT! Such a awesome quality trailer, looks very much like a film. Doesn’t give much away in terms of storyline BUT according to Wikipedia this will take place before Halo 3 i think. Looks really good, can’t wait for that.

“Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe” – FINALLY a great comic book game! I’m sick of such bad quality comic book games or ones which clearly are just made to gross in more profit from their films (X-Men 3, Iron-Man, Hulk, Spiderman) thank god we’ve got this one as well as the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games. This trailer was pretty limiting in content BUT i did manage to watch some of the interviews and making of features which gave more footage, looks like this could turn out to be such a great game.

“Tekken 6″ – One of my favourite franchises finally hits the Xbox 360! Apparently offers the biggest character selection than the previous games, with most of the original characters making a come back along with some new additions! Really can’t wait for this, I still have yet to buy Tekken 4 and Tekken 5 even though I’ve played them, just never owned them. Definately need to complete them so I know where the story is going.

The demos I downloaded are as follows:

“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” – Now there have been some quite terrible Star Wars games in the past (I will not name them), and some very good ones! After playing this demo, I came to the conclusion that this in fact is one of the best Star Wars games I’ve EVER come across! A very, very, very well done game! Obviously you can’t say much from playing a demo BUT it definately makes you want to buy it. What i like about this game is that you’re not a good guy, you’re part of the Sith which is pretty awesome! The graphics are pretty decent, and it captures the Star Wars universe really well! Will look forward to getting this game!

“The Bourne Conspiracy” – Based on the Bourne books and films. You play Jason Bourne, an assassin and a man trying to remember his past. If you love the films and the books, then you’ll love the game. From the short demo that I played it was a pretty good game, the graphics are pretty decent and the cut scenes were well done. Think I may get this game!

“Stranglehold” – I WANT THIS GAME! I’ve always been into martial arts/Chinese undercover cop type movies and this game does not disappoint! It really feels like you’re in a movie! One thing I did think was awesome with this game is that pretty much everything in the game is destructible. You can use tables to slide across to shoot someone, use trolleys to wheel from one area to the next while shooting a bunch of enemies, you can shoot at lights which fall down on enemies, you can slide down railings while shooting and the list goes on. Its such a cool game! You really feel like your playing a well choreographed shootout! Another cool thing here is something called “Bullet time” where you have to shoot an enemy, while dodging their bullets but its done really slowly, like Matrix type thing! There are so many different cool things about this game its hard to write about it all but I most definately will be buying this game – especially the collectors edition!

“Mirrors Edge” – Wasn’t too keen on this game! Found the demo quite boring, not sure why as it’s quite a highly antisipated game! Just didn’t really get what it was about, not only that I didn’t really like it when I fell off a really high building to my death, and as it’s first person it actually felt like you were falling (I guess thats the approach they were going for, not the idea of falling to your death but the idea that you were jumping around in a first person view). I think the concept is quite clever, but it’s not my cup of tea.

“Tomb Raider: Underworld” – Havn’t played a Tomb Raider game since the first one back in the Playstation 1 days! The graphics have really come far since then, I couldn’t believe it when I started playing the demo! Like with all the other Tomb Raider games, its another one with similar concepts and ideas, I will still like to get this, and the same with “TR: Legend” and “TR: Anniversary”.

There were many others, but off the top of my head those were the ones that I remember!

Phew, yet again another long blog! Let me know what you’re looking forward to.

Also, those dvd/games i was telling you about that I ordered, well they have been dispatched so I should have them either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I will most definately be showing those off, and I will definately be doing a review on the dvd as it’s one of my favourites!

Blog out! xx

Back on YouTube …

It’s been a while BUT i’ve managed to put up some new videos on my channel, 4 new videos consisting of my Xbox/Xbox 360 games, Gamecube games, PS2 games and N64 games. As for my PS1 games, Gameboy/Gameboy colour games and PC games I shall do videos for them at a later date, maybe tomorrow, Monday or later in the week. I would also like to do a DVD collection video, as I said I would do one just never got round to doing it, that should be split up into several parts as I have quite a lot of DVDs. I will also be doing a CD collection video in the near future. Leave me comments, ratings, messages and don’t forget to subscribe if you havn’t already (www.youtube.com/chroniclesofbayley).

As for updates, I’ve purchased some a new game, a new dvd and 2 collector editions (one of which I already own but wanted a cleaner/nicer version of it, and the other which I own the standard version and so I wanted the collectors edition). All of which I’m really looking forward to getting as soon as possible. Even though I already own the Limited Tin Edition, I’m also very intrigued into getting the Bioshock Collectors Edition (the one with the Big Daddy figure), possible the Stranglehold Collectors Edition, Mass Effect Collectors Edition and the Lost Planet Limited Edition all for the Xbox 360! Let me know if any of them are any good, not just in a collectors edition sense but also the actual games.

To my YouTube viewers: Send me messages as to what you would like to see more of, what reviews you want me to do, or what you want me to discuss in future videos. I really need some ideas and inspiration as I’m not sure what my viewers want in terms of content. Send comments/messages/video responses, anything to give me some ideas into what I could do for a next video. Even a collaboration video with some of you guys would be awesome, just let me know .

Also, I’ve created an email account especially for my viewers/readers so if you have any questions or want to send me feedback/ideas for videos then send them to chroniclesofbayley@googlemail.com. If you send me an email type “YouTube” or “WordPress” in the subject name, that way I won’t accidentally think it’s spam.

That’s all for today!

Best Wishes

Fran x

Sorry I’ve not been around …

Hey Dudes/Dudettes,

Sorry, It’s been far too long since i last did a written blog (and come to think of it, a video blog too) but anyways, I’ve been super busy and haven’t managed to devote any time to blogging which is a shame because I do enjoy it when I put my mind to it. I know a few of my internet buddies (ShepDawg25 and Sixty X Celph) are in the middle of a blogging-block (like a writers-block) as they’re not sure what to video about or where they’re channels are heading, I hope they both sort things out because they are very big influences not only to me but vloggers across the globe! I think I’m having similar sorts of issues as well, people don’t know how hard it is to come up with original ideas for videos, so we stick to the same sort of ideas (which work initially) but sometimes we just want to do a little bit more to make our channels different in some way. Don’t get me wrong, the things I do on here and Youtube are great and when I get an idea for a video or written blog I go out of my way to say all I can about a topic/issue or thought, but sometimes I want to give a little bit more to my subscribers to make my channel a little bit more unique.

Ahhh anyways, aside from those thoughts I’ve been pretty busy. As you know I worked full time at a supermarket here in the UK, I’m still there but I’m now part time. This is due to a little thing called college, which i started back in September. Now, I think I did a post in May explaining that the course (same one which I’m on now) wasn’t available so I thought that I should do something different but in the end I thought I’d just work for another year and obviously I got my promotion and everything. The decision to go to college was very sudden, I didn’t know the course was available until end of August so I had to apply very quickly, and I wasn’t even sure I would get a place there. But I did! The course is Graphic Design and it’s for two years, and it’s at a really good college. It’s a level 4 course which is basically the equivalent of University, and at the end of the 2nd year we get the choice of either going straight into the industry or going onto the 3rd year of a Bachelors Degree course to complete the full degree which is such a great opportunity! I’m really enjoying the course and my class mates are so much fun. I’m now back on track with what I want to do which is awesome, as you remember from the post back in May that I was quite sad and annoyed and wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my career/education prospects but now I’m definately at the stage I want to be right now.

Right on to other things, MOVIES! OK so since my last posting I’ve probably bought around 50 more dvds and numerous amount of games but for now I’ll just list the dvds which I got most recently:- Twisted, The Best of So Graham Norton, The Osbournes Season 1, King Kong Production Diaries, Copycat, The Matrix Revisited, Alan Carr’s Now Thats What I Call A Ding Dong, Charlie’s Angels, Girl With A Pearl Earring, The Grudge (Original), Dr. Dolittle, The Manchurian Candidate (Re-make), Godsend, Infernal Affairs. Those are the dvds which I’ve only just bought so they are the most recent. I will do mini-reviews on them further down this blog.

Other news:- HALLOWEEN! Hope you all had fun Halloween days/nights. I most certainly did, I didn’t really get up to much BUT i did end up dressing up for work (only 4 of us out of the entire store dressed up). I didnt have much of a costume, just wore some of my own clothes, stained my shirt with fake blood, wore a bloody bandage round my arm, and put fake blood across my face (I looked AWESOME!) haha! Although customers all day were giving me funny looks and asking whether I was ok! It was a very entertaining day, then when I got home I watched Hocus Pocus which is an all-time Halloween classic and one of my favourite childhood movies! What did you lot get up to? I know Sixty filled his face with candy! I left him a message on his latest video, but think I will share the same thoughts with you. I feel the holiday of Halloween is beginning to die out here in the UK, I mean all the stores have Halloween ranges and Halloween treats and things, but it’s never been big here compared to the U.S. and other countries, which is such a shame because I love it so much. On Friday, we only had one trick-or-treater come to our door! It’s quite sad, because I remember when I was a child there were so many kids about and I’d go out with quite a few of my friends, we’d all have awesome costumes and I’d come back home with a huge bag full of treats but now theres hardly anyone about. Think I might have to visit the U.S. next Halloween (anyone want to give me a bed to sleep in if I fly out? hehe).

On to music now. I would like to plug my good friend Sixty X Celph and his musical-skills! On his latest video he mentioned a couple of bands that he has worked with, and to download the song “Flesh” by Artificial Angel. I myself downloaded it, and loved it! It really has a great Halloween feel to it, I loved the beginning and the guitar rhythm was great. I really thought it was an awesomely good track. Good job Sixty! Now, everyone go to his myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sixtycelph to here more

On to those mini-reviews. All these DVDs were bought from a store called CEX in the UK, I bought these online and apart from the Alan Carr DVD, the others cost me only £13 for all of them, the prices of those ranged from £0.75 to £1.50! BARGAIN! Plus FREE DELIVERY! I love a good deal!

Twisted – Watched this today after seeing that dvdemm had it in her collection. This crime/thriller/murder mystery was a great watch. Twists and turns throughout, with great cinematography and some awesome editing will keep you hooked until the end. The acting was superb, with Ashley Judd doing a marvelous job as the main character Jessica Shepard, a recently promoted Inspector to the Homicide division on the San Francisco Police Department. I absolutely loved this film and keeps you guessing as to who the killer could be, with an interesting climax at the end. Great film! 9/10!

The Best of So Graham Norton – This dvd compiles the best bits of seasons 1-3 of the hit show! A very funny compilation of audience humiliations, celebrity interviews, prank calls and a look at the internets randomest videos/websites. Very entertaining. 8/10

The Osbournes Season 1 – Season 1 of the hit MTV show! The dvd has all 10 episodes of the very funny first season. Ozzy’s antics, Sharons constant cat/dog buying, Kellys “wobblers” and Jack’s oddness all come together to create a great show thats full of random funny outbursts of …. swearing! !#@? A very funny series, with great special features including an Ozzy translator which you can turn on for each episode and find out what the hell that man is saying. Uncensored fun! 9/10

King Kong Production Diaries – Peter Jackson’s King Kong was a world-wide success, not only was there a 1 disc, 2 disc and extended edition set brought out BUT this spectacular dvd bursting with over 3 and a half hours worth of behind the scenes footage for the King Kong remake. If you’re interested in film making or just love watching behind the scenes features on films then this dvd will knock you’re socks off! Starting from the very first day on set, all the way to post-production and premiere night, this dvd will give you an insight into over 8 months of life on a movie set. A great watch! 9/10

Copycat – A mid-90s thriller movie about a mass murderer copying the murders of serial killers of the recent past. A great tension builder, which will keep you on the edge of you’re seat until the very end. A great cast choice and some great editing. Loved this film. 9/10

The Matrix Revisited – Not watched yet.

Alan Carr’s Now Thats What I Call A Ding Dong – The best bits of the first series of Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong. Alan Carr is my number 1 comedian, his humour is side-splitting and his comic timing is just genius. The series doesn’t showcase just how funny Alan Carr really is, but this show is still quite entertaining. Alan Carr is a legend! 8/10

Charlie’s Angels – Not watched yet.

Girl With A Pearl Earring – Not watched yet.

The Grudge (Original) – Not watched yet.

Dr. Dolittle – This film is still as funny as I remember when i was a child. Eddie Murphy is a true comedy legend and most, if not all, of his films I absolutely adore! With the likes of comedy heroes such as Chris Rock and Ellen DeGeneres giving voice overs in the film, it’s obviously a movie hit! Childhood Classic! 8/10

The Manchurian Candidate (Re-make) – Not watched yet.

Godsend – Not watched yet.

Infernal Affairs – Haven’t seen this film as yet, but I have seen The Departed and pretty much worshipped it! Apparently that film was based on/a remake of Infernal Affairs, so I’m really looking forward to seeing this.

Right, think I’ve said enough! I hope everyone is ok! Will look forward to reading you’re comments, and (fingers crossed) I will be back with more blogs.

Take Care!

Fran xxx

360 TIME!!

For those of you who watch my YT videos, you’ll know that I am now the proud owner of the Xbox 360!

  

I currently have 6 top games: Assasins Creed, Just Cause, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, Rainbow Six Vegas, Halo 3 and Project Gotham Racing 3.

I’d like to know what you’re Top 10 games for the 360 are, so it’ll give me a good idea of what games are essential for my collection.

Take Care xx

N64 TIME!!

Right so as you know I bought an N64 a few months ago, well I bought another one (not because the other one was broken but because I needed some more controllers and more games. and I thought it would be cheaper buying them in a bundle with a console than buy them all seperately).

The games I got with it are Mario Kart 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64 (already got that with my other N64, but I’ll know doubt sell it), Super Mario Smash Bros, Rayman 2 and Banjo Kazooie! These were the games that I used to play as a kid, so the memories will come flooding back!

Anyways quick update, think on one of my posts I said that I may be getting an Xbox 360 with my next pay check, I’ve decided that I’m going to hold back on that for a couple of months, I have a new kitten to pay for now (i.e. food/vacinations/vet bills etc) so I think I’m going to wait until October and buy one for my birthday. I won’t have that long to wait, so it will be a nice 20th birthday treat

Peace xx

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door [Gamecube] – Initial Thoughts

So tonight I finally got round to gaming, I’ve been wanting to try this game out ever since I got it a couple of weeks ago and I’ve played around 3.5 hours of it and it’s pretty damn good! I’ve never played the original (on the N64) but I most definately would want to buy it.

So let me start by telling you that this is a different sort of Mario game, it’s not your typical “Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser and Mario has to rescue her”, theres more story to this Mario game. I’d say this was as close to an RPG as you can get, battling bosses is done by turn-based attacks and you have to speak to literally everyone around to get a good idea of whats happening as the story progresses, so this is very similar to games such as Final Fantasy/Pokemon etc. As the title suggests the universe is “Paper”, if you have played the game then you’ll know how the game looks, the characters are paper-like in the sense that they are very much 2D, and these “paper” like characters are surrounded in a 3D world and there are very nice touches to the paper theme for instance a section near to the beginning of the game where you have to jump onto a switch which creates a bridge, but the bridge is created as if pages were turning. I’m not very good at explaining that but look out for clips of this or alternatively try and pick up this game and find out for yourself just how stylistic the design is. There are some very interesting special moves that Mario does as well, for instance he is “cursed” with the ability to turn into a paper aeroplane to travel short distances as well as other paper based abilities.

As for the story, “the plot follows Mario’s quest as he tries to retrieve the seven Crystal Stars and rescue Peach from the X-Nauts, an alien species introduced in The Thousand-Year Door” (Wikipedia explains this more simply than I ever could). I guess the aim of the game is still to rescue Peach, but theres more of a storyline than your average Mario game. If you want to know more about the plot, Wikipedia has a brilliant run down of what the story is about – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door

I think visually this game is extraordinary, and I’ve never really played a game like it. It has the same elements as the Mario games, but yet brings something completely different to the table. I’m really enjoying this game and can’t wait to get even further with it. I’ll no doubt do a complete review when I’ve completed the game but for the moment I’d just thought I’d share my thoughts with you on how good this game really is.