Soulcalibur IV

Now playing Soulcalibur IV for the Xbox 360. It's a 3D fighting game that I started playing several years ago with Lediya's cousins. It's pretty fun, and the best part about it is the online play mode. On the 360 version, you can play as Yoda!

Wii Fit

For Lediya's birthday, I got her Nintendo's new Wii Fit game. If you haven't heard what Wii Fit is, it's a pretty revolutionary way to exercise involving video gaming. From Amazon.com: The active-play phenomenon started by Wii Sports now spreads to your whole body thanks to Wii Fit and the pressure-sensitive Wii Balance Board, which comes bundled with it. Used together players will experience an extensive array of fun, dynamic and surprisingly challenging activities, including aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and balance oriented games. The focus of these activities is towards providing a "core" workout, a popular exercise method that emphasizes slower, controlled motions, but it's the fun approach to fitness of Wii Fit that will keep players hooked on fitness for years to come.

We've been playing it for a few days and I must say it gives a pretty good workout. For instance, I have never done any yoga before but when I attempted to play yoga, it got pretty tiring. The other fun parts are the balancing games using the balance board. Our favorites are hula hoop, ski slalom, ski jump, and tightrope walk. It forces you to use core muscles that you don't really use. If you have a Nintendo Wii, this is a must own game for you. Nintendo has done it once again.

Mass Effect

Now playing Mass Effect, BioWare's latest RPG. BioWare also created the Knights of the Old Republic series as well as Jade Empire. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player assuming the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard, set out to explore a vast universe. It's a huge universe, and like previous BioWare titles, the playable character "evolves" based on the the player's good or bad action choices.

It's a long, long game and I'm only about 10% done with it, but so far it's been satisfactory. If you're a fan of RPGs, this might be the game for you. BioWare plans to release two more sequels during the Xbox 360's expected five year life cycle.

Call Of Duty 4

I've been on a videogame binge lately! Latest game that I'm playing is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This is my first time playing the Call of Duty series and I must say I am extremely impressed. This game is the most photorealistic game I've ever played, period. While the single player campaign is relatively short, it draws you in. And, the multiplayer mode is robust and very fun to play, since it involves a lot more strategy and tactics than other FPS games with multiplayer. Pick up this game if you have an Xbox 360.

GRAW 2

Picked up Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 from the bargain bin at GameStop the other day. It's actually a decent follow-up to the original. You play as Captain Scott Mitchell and you have a team of three elite soldiers at your command, as well as vehicular support. It's got great graphics and a realistic game play. Not bad for a $16 game.

Assassin's Creed

Now playing through Ubisoft's latest release, Assassin's Creed. I had been waiting for this one, because it's the next generation release from the makers of the excellent Prince of Persia for the Xbox series.

The player assumes the role of Desmond Miles, a bartender whose family tree is of assassins. He is taken to a facility where he uses the Animus, a machine that allows him to see the memories of his ancestors during the Third Crusade in the year 1191. Desmond assumes the role of Altair, whose objective is to slay the nine historical figures who are propagating the Crusades. As the player finds and kills these targets, their conspiracy is unveiled. The player is able to travel through three cities: Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, as well as Masyaf, the assassins' stronghold.

Storyline is well-developed, graphics are amazing, and the action is intense. It's a platformer in a sense, but way more than that. 360 owners should pick up this game.

BioShock

Picked up the first-person shooter BioShock from eBay as a treat for my birthday. I played the demo and I was wowed by it, so I decided I wanted to play the game that scored even higher than Halo 3 on the Metacritic ratings (highest ranked Xbox 360 game ever).

The game is simply awesome. The Ayn Rand inspired dystopian plot is twisted, combining thriller elements from the Resident Evil series with amazing graphics that rival Gears of War. Set in an alternative 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it.

If you're a 360 owner, I highly suggest you play this game. I'm about 3 hours into it and I couldn't put the controller down. It's even scarier to play at night!

Halo 3

Picked up Halo 3 on Thursday and played about an hour of campaign mode. First impressions: improved graphics, more difficult enemy AI, better weapons and vast maps. What I'm still getting used to: new control layouts for reloading and double-wielding. So far, it's pretty awesome (but not nearly as graphically impressive as Gears of War or BioShock). I also tried three player campaign co-op and that was fun. Can't wait to try multiplayer with the guys and the replay function. Will be playing this game for years!

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree

Picked Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree up last night as an advance Father's Day gift and I must say it's been a lot of fun! This sequel to the award-winning DS version is a brain workout - the mini-games focus on brain activities such as identification, computation, analysis, memorization, and visualization. The three multiplayer modes are also very exciting and intense!

Highly recommended for the Wii owner!

Online Mii Editor

We haven't had much time to play with our Nintendo Wii for a while now that Lucas has taken up most of our free time, but I did find a cool online Mii editor to create online versions of our Miis. In case you didn't know, a Mii is an avatar that is used to represent the player in the Wii world. If you have a Wii, this is worth trying out! Here are the Beltran Miis.

God of War II

Picked up God of War II for the PlayStation 2 yesterday and just started it today. So far the game is pretty awesome. It continues right after the events of the original game, with the main character Kratos assuming the throne of the former god of war Ares. This time, he exacts revenge against the mightiest Olympian god of all, Zeus.

This game has been dubbed as the PlayStation 2's swan song and it does not disappoint. Graphics are unreal (480p) and the storyline is filled with the best of Greek mythology. I think it might even be better than the original. It uses up every ounce of processing power of the PlayStation 2 and in my opinion is one of the best titles on it ever.

I thought that I could squeeze this last game in before Lucas arrives later this month, cause I won't be playing any video games for a long while.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

I'm now about 5 hours in this amazing game for the Nintendo Wii. I've played the Zelda series ever since I was in the 8th grade and have enjoyed every single one. This is the best Nintendo series, period (with apologies to Super Mario Brothers). Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the reason why Nintendo is considered by many to be the top game developer in the industry.

The game makes innovative use of the Wii controller. Instead of mashing buttons to swing your sword, you actually physically swing the remote. You also use it for targetting the slingshot, fishing, throwing your boomerang, and so on.

While the game is not true HD, it is presented in 480p which is good enough. The game play and the story more than makes up for the graphics "shortcoming." I'm not sure if I'll finish it before Lucas arrives in April but we'll see.

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

Bought Wario Ware: Smooth Moves for the Wii and so far we've been having a lot of fun with it. Its collection of "microgames" has you on your toes the whole time, trying to figure out in less than 5 seconds what you are supposed to do to move on. My favorite microgame so far is one where you have to navigate the Wii remote to pick a nose!

On a related note, we've been having a lot of fun with the Wii. My parents were here this weekend and they had a lot of fun with it as well. It definitely appeals to all age groups. In less than 5 minutes non-gamers can be playing Wii tennis, it's that easy to pick up. Creating the Miis is really entertaining as well.

Nintendo Wii

Purely on impulse, we picked up a Nintendo Wii console bundle from Costco last night. We had been eyeing the Wii for a bit here and there but were not really serious on buying it until recently. Needless to say, it is a very fun experience! Within 10 minutes of setting it up we were already wirelessly connected to the Internet and trying to hit baseballs out of the park.

The Costco bundle comes with two games, Excite Truck and the Legend of Zelda. The system itself comes with a Wii remote, a Nunchuk attachment, and the Wii Sports game, which includes tennis, baseball, boxing, bowling, and golf. Games are displayed in 480p resolution.

It's a family friendly system and I can see the Wii serving as a centerpiece for entertaining friends and family of all ages. It's a totally different and radical video gaming experience. We just have to remember to stretch properly before playing Wii Sports!

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Thanks to Sam, who convinced me to keep this game rather than selling it on eBay, I'm now playing through the campaign mode of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It's a tactical third person shooter.

This game has it all. You run, climb, slide, dive, go prone, heal fallen teammates, take cover and lean against any flat surface, press select and you have a full 360 degree map of the area, select a HUGE array of weapons (both with and without scopes), pick up enemy weapons, command not only fellow Ghost elite soldiers but M1 Abrams tanks, Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, and many more. On top of that, enemies are outlined in red (and once spotted are noted on that 360 degreed map for future planning), friendlies in green, and you also get night vision goggles.

Graphics are just amazing in 720p, feels like I'm in the middle of the action. Thanks again Sam for recommending that I keep this game!

Gears of War

I'm now playing Gears of War, the critically acclaimed third person shooter for the Xbox 360. I just got through the campaign at the Hard Core difficulty and it was awesome. I went through it mostly with my brother-in-law and cousin via the co-op mode. The HD graphics are just amazing. I also played multiplayer with the boys, and it was also very fun, but lacking in some respects. Multiplayer is not nearly as full-featured as Halo 2 multiplayer because you can't edit game settings in-game because it forces you to log out first. You also can't play with the same friends on the online ranked matches as the game does not allow you to create a party.

All in all though the game is simply magnificent. It forces you as a player to use cover and flanking maneuvers to be successful, unlike traditional shoot-em-up games where a bum rush is the best strategy. I am now playing the Insane (the hardest difficulty mode) and it's kicking my butt.

Xbox 360

Well, I did it. I finally pulled the trigger on a new Xbox 360. I had a few Best Buy gift cards lying around so I figured now was a good time. The promotion that I got in was a free $20 gift card and a free game (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, which I will eBay) with the premium purchase. I was able to use the free gift card to buy some extra accessories, mainly an extra controller, a remote control, and a new game (Gears of War).

The Xbox 360 will fit in nicely in our entertainment center and should seamlessly integrate with my digital media on my PC, which is running Windows Media Center. The final nail in the coffin for the original Xbox was the news that Bungie will be releasing new Halo 2 maps - but only for Xbox 360 owners. Oh well, I was able to hold out longer than I thought and was able to get the console for a good price out-the-door.

In addition, I also added my Xbox Live Gamercard in this blog, you can see it below. My gamertag is MasterPNutz. Let's play!

Final Fantasy XII

After four long years of waiting, Final Fantasy XII is finally here. I am a big fan of the Final Fantasy series, and the last one that I played was Final Fantasy X. This is the one of two video game franchises (the other being Halo) that I am willing to 1. pay full price for (I generally get my games from eBay at a discount) and 2. invest many hours trying to beat it. So far, the game has been excellent.

At first, the revamped battle system felt a little awkward, but I quickly got used to it. This is the first game in the series that does not take you to a separate battle screen once you encounter a random monster. Also, the game has a built in AI called Gambits that takes the menial micromanaging out of the game, which is great. The only thing that is kind of irritating is the licensing system - instead of your characters being able to wield new weapons due to their levels, the game instead "makes" you to take out a license before your character can wield that weapon or cast that magic. Still getting used to it.

As for the graphics, it's awesome. They really squeezed all of the processing power out of the PlayStation 2 to generate the graphics, which is presented in 480p. Who needs a PlayStation 3 when this game looks pretty darn close to high definition? I would not be able to tell if this game was in 720p or 1080i, it's that good. Also, the loading times have been reduced and are now almost seamless.

I just started the game two days ago but so far this might be the game of the year for me.

Halo 3

It's finally official: Bungie's Halo 3 is in the works! The third and concluding installment of the greatest first person shooter of all time will be released for the Xbox 360 sometime in 2007. What this means is that yes, I will need to bite the bullet and upgrade to the 360, but not anytime soon. Which is what I exactly did when Halo 2 came out in November 2004 - I bought my Xbox the same day the game was released.

I know that the graphics will be much better and I surely hope that Bungie cleans up the online cheating that plagues Halo 2 today. Looking forward to 2007!

Check out bungie.net for the trailer (rendered on the Xbox 360 real time).

The Matrix: Path of Neo

Now that I am finished with the Prince of Persia trilogy, I had to find another action/adventure game worthy of my time. I found that game in The Matrix: Path of Neo. You take on Neo's character from the moment he becomes aware of the existence of the Matrix, and to his "awakening" as The One. You get to fight a bunch of baddies such as SWAT teams, agents, and against the ultimate boss, Agent Smith.

It's very cool to play as the One and be able to kick butt using multiple martial arts combos, to be able to see your environs in pure Matrix code, and to slow down and stop bullets.

Right now I'm trying to defeat Seraph to prove to him that I am The One. I recommend this game to Matrix fans.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

Now playing the third installment of the Prince of Persia trilogy, The Two Thrones. Picked it up on eBay for, you guessed it, $15 shipped.

I just love these adventure/action games and this game is no exception. It's very entertaining so far. The best part is that I get to keep using the old Xbox for a while because of these cheap games that I keep picking up. The Xbox 360 can wait!

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

I'm now playing the second installment of the Prince of Persia trilogy, Warrior Within. Again, picked it up for $15 from eBay after selling Sands of Time. The Prince is now more mature and can wield dual weapons. It's a great game, not as good as Sands of Time though. Still a bargain!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I'm currently playing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the first game in the new Prince of Persia trilogy. It was the 2003 Game of the Year. Awesome game so far and a bargain at $12 from eBay.

It's got everything: puzzle solving, cool fighting combos, and a great storyline.

X-Men Legends

Started playing this game today. Picked it up for $7 shipped from eBay. Looks good so far!

Nintendogs

Lediya and I have recently been enamored with Nintendogs, a virtual pet game for the Nintendo DS. We received the DS and the game as a X-mas gift from Lyno.

Basically, you raise a puppy by training it through voice commands (up to 16), playing catch with it, walking it around town, and caring for it. You can enter competitions and win money in three areas: Obedience, Agility, and Disc Competitions. The cool thing about the DS is that you can interact with the puppy through the stylus.

We are raising two puppies, one for each of us (up to a maximum of three). They're both labrador retrievers, a male and a female.

It's a very entertaining game. Thanks Lyno! Check it out here.

Resident Evil 4

I'm currently playing Capcom's Resident Evil 4 on the PlayStation 2. So far it's pretty good!

Top Video Games of All Time

Back in my younger, pre-married days, I played a lot of videogames. 3+ hours per night (even on work nights) and marathon sessions on the weekends were the norm. I sometimes look back on those nights when I absolutely have to beat this one boss and next thing I know, it's light outside. Of course, I can't forget the many nights of Halo and Halo 2 with the guys. Those were the days.

Anyway, here is my personal list of the top ten console-based video games of all time:

1. Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation 1)
2. Halo 2 (Xbox)
3. Super Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)
4. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PlayStation 2)
5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
6. Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2)
7. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)
8. Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
9. Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation 1)
10. God of War (PlayStation 2)

Video Games

While I do not consider myself a true "gamer" (at least, not anymore), I still like to play videogames once in a while. Nowadays, I only play top-rated adventure and role-playing games (and the occasional first-person shooter). I played a handful of games in the past year and so here are my top five:

1. God of War (PlayStation 2)
2. Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox)
3. Karaoke Revolution (Xbox)
4. Jade Empire (Xbox)
5. Fable (Xbox)

Xbox Media Center Extender

As I mentioned in my previous post, I found a way to stream my digital media from our office PC to the main TV. I really wanted to get this done because I was tired of viewing pictures and video on the puny 17" LCD and listening to our music collection through the weak PC speakers. By streaming to the main TV, we are now able to view slideshows on our 32" HDTV and listen to our music on our surround-sound system.


The setup starts with a new PC running Windows 2005 Media Center Edition. This OS enabled me to be able to stream the digital media over the network to a device called a media center extender. Turns out, the Xbox is already one such device, with the help of a $30 add-on called the Xbox Media Center Extender. Setup took about 10 minutes, and shortly after that we were enjoying Depeche Mode over our surround-sound system while viewing a slideshow of our Italian honeymoon. Hallelujah!

Xbox vs. Xbox 360

So I was really, really sure that I was going to get an Xbox 360 when it came out on November 22. Despite news of shortages and massive demand, I was sure that I was going to get one. So sure that I had decided to put the beloved old Xbox on craigslist and eBay for $150. I mean, I was so excited to get this new gaming machine capable of outputting to my HDTV and to also stream my digital media from my PC.

My plan of attack was to stroll into Costco on my lunch break, happily grab a 360 bundle package for $479 (which includes the Xbox 360 Premium, a USB play and charge kit, an extra wireless controller, and 1 game), and be on my way. I figured who the heck goes to Costco to buy videogames. Boy, was I wrong. Turned out that they only got 24 Xbox 360s and that there were actually a line of people at 6 a.m. Whoops, there goes my plan.

But in hindsight, I'm now glad I didn't drop nearly $500 on the 360. After reading reports of the power supply unit overheating and other initial production problems, I'm glad not to be actually an early adopter. The only thing that I really looked forward to at the start was the media center capabilities of the 360. But, after further research, I realized that the good old original Xbox has also the same capability, albeit with some limitations. See my post on the Xbox Media Center Extender for more details.

So I'll be glad to wait until Costco replenishes their 360 supply (most likely in the spring) or even wait further until the PlayStation 3 arrives (which can mean a price cut for the 360). I'll also be glad to wait until Microsoft fixes that overheating problem. As long as Halo 2 works on the original Xbox, I can definitely wait.