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-Carsten
Comments (0) 16.09.2009. 14:21
Remembering the Dreamcast
Today is a bittersweet day for all those people who have fond memories of the Sega Dreamcast and I am one of those people. The Sega Dreamcast was released 10 years ago today on 9/9/99. Raise your glasses!
I will never forget that day I realized I wanted needed a Dreamcast. My boy Nicholas and I walked into a Funcoland(now Gamestop) and we watched the two employees banging out a game of Virtua Tennis. In fact, this not only made me realize how awesome the Dreamcast was but also that Funcoland was a great place to work, but that is a different topic entirely. Virtua Tennis was only a starting point into the fairly large library of games that I would accumulate for the system.
For me, when I think Dreamcast, my mind immediately jumps to Phantasy Star Online. With Dreamcast being the first console with native support for an internet connection, PSO provided my first online RPG experience and still remains as one of the fondest gaming memories of my lifetime. I would spend hours clogging up my parents phone lines because we didn't have broadband internet. In fact, there was a broadband adapter for the Dreamcast but PSO didn't even support it, though I recall there being workarounds! I bought the Dreamcast Keyboard to make typing easier and pretty much committed myself to this game for months on end. I once skipped school to play the game and Nick got mad because he was in class while I was leveling up. Sorry!
After PSO, I was drawn to games with online multiplayer. I would play anything that had an online experience because, for me, it was a better experience than what I could get on a PC. I didn't have access to a PC with the horsepower to run similar games. There were games like Alien Front Online which managed to do not only online play but also voice chat over a 56k connection and it worked! Makes me wonder how I experience lag in some Xbox Live games today.
I can't help but smile as I write this thinking about the awesome times my friends and I had playing the Dreamcast. I am going to dust the old bird off and fire up some Virtua Tennis when I get home, I recommend you do the same.
UPDATE: Proof:
-Carsten
Comments (1) 09.09.2009. 14:30
Batman Arkham Asylum Review!
Whoa what just happened? Did I just play a superhero game that didn't suck? Did it not only suck but rock my world? Yes!
For those not "in the know", there is a new Batman game available for PS3 and Xbox 360 with a PC version due in a few weeks. The game is written by Paul Dini who was a producer and writer for Batman: The Animated Series. His story for the game is simple; Batman has captured the Joker and is taking him to Arkham Asylum. Well, with Joker, its never that simple. He let Batman capture him and is going to give him the longest night of his life as he takes over Arkham Asylum and Batman tries to restore order. The best thing about the story is that it allows for many familiar Batman villains to make an appearance. Batman will encounter not only the Joker, but Poison Ivy, Bane and many others.
When the game starts, you are a fairly basic Batman equipped with batarangs, a grappling gun and batfists (read: your bare hands). Similar to other games in the genre, you don't stay basic for long. Fighting enemies earns you experience which levels you up. Each level allows you to unlock one equipment upgrade which could be anything from additional armor for the batsuit to upgraded combo moves to being able to throw three batarangs at once! Plus, you will add equipment to your arsenal as you go, such as a line launcher and explosive gel, making you one capable Batman.
The game itself is a mix of Metal Gear Solid and the Mark of Kri. There are situations where you have to stealth around and situations where you will go in guns blazing...minus the guns. When you do engage the enemy head-on, you will be using the FreeFlow combat system. This is pretty much exactly how it sounds. You attack with the Square button(X on 360) and point the left analog stick at the enemy you want to attack. If you want to change which enemy you are attacking, simply switch the direction of the analog stick. Add to this that you can counter enemies moves with Triangle(Y on 360) and you will feel exactly like Batman feels when getting in real fights in the real world!
When discussing combat, I have to mention that one part of the game that I found lacking; boss fights. Of the eight or nine boss fights throughout the game, there are really only three unique battles and the rest are repetitive. Luckily, the combat is so satisfying that this doesn't bring down the whole experience of the game and with the exception of particular boss fight, the important ones are done uniquely. I hope that in the inevitable sequel they can be a little more creative with how bosses are done.
As mentioned above, you will earn experience fighting enemies but that is not the only way to earn it. Throughout Arkham Island, The Riddler has hidden 240 trophies, interviews and riddles for you to find or solve. Every time you find or solve one of Riddlers challenges, you get an experience reward and possibly a character trophy too! These 240 items are hidden all over the island and you won't be able to get them all right off the bat(get it?). There will be times when you can see a Riddler trophy but won't have the tools required to reach it and will have to come back at a later point. Thankfully, the developers did the right thing and allow free exploration of Arkham even after the final boss has been defeated.
Batman: Arkham Asylum has set the bar for future superhero videogames and it set the bar high. I can't imagine anybody topping the experience anytime soon and I would bet the next game to be as good will be the sequel. There are unlimited possibilities for where this franchise can go and I can't wait to see where the next installment takes Batman.
-Carsten
Comments (0) 04.09.2009. 11:08