Cythusly's weblog

I spent a little more time with the Resident Evil 5 demo last night and a bit today and I’m happy to say it was quite a bit better once you pick a control style (‘Style D’ really sucked ass in my opinion, ‘A’ was closer to what I’d want to use, but still not perfect – but I can adapt.) I didn’t manage to get Sweet D to come play with me last night (and I still haven’t found my headset, but I’ve resigned myself to buying a Messenger Kit since it has a headset in it too and I absolutely loathe typing anything with the L-stick and button clicks) but I got my friend @mithrandir202, Chris, on the phone and we ghettoed up the voice connection that way.

Our attempts at Public Assembly were dismal at best, due in part by Chris’ lack of having played a RE game before, let alone the one that would probably help most RE4. He commented a few times on how he was less than pleased about the having to stop and aim – but as I told him, “it adds to the tension and keeps it from being Halo with t-virus infected las plagas victims” to which he responded “huh?” Kids.

Anyway, I’m going to try and get a few other friends to load up with me in the next few days and see if we can’t get both “Public Assembly” and “Shanty Town”, neither of which Chris and I were able to get through last night.

Finally today I beat the chainsaw ganado (not sure what to call it, but I think the term still applies) that ends the level and I have to say it’s much more difficult doing that with two characters whose asses you have to watch and make sure don’t die. As to be expected in the solo campaign ammo conservation is freaking time consuming, with the new inventory system, and frustrating, because your idiot partner decides she needs all the ammo – tell you what, chickie, how about I pick up the ammo and give you some if I think you need it, otherwise stay out of my way and try not to catch a chainsaw to your head.

-Tyler

I’m going to do a few of these because I feel the two levels offered in the demo of Resident Evil 5 need more attention than I’ve been able to give them – so far, first impressions are the game is fantastically beautiful, semi-fun to play, and honestly? A little too much like Resident Evil 0 for my liking. I’m playing on a 21″ Insignia 720p and it feels a little bit cramped, especially running down a hallway or alley being bumped into by your cohort, Sheva, as she’s trying to stand right next to you.

The way Chris Redfield (yes, Resident Evil’s Chris Redfield) runs and moves feels a little more clunky than Leon did in RE:4 and I can’t tell exactly why. The controls feel out of place on the 360′s controller and the sense of longing for the GameCube’s controller constantly bashes me over the head as I think “man… I remember maneuvering much easier in 4.” Another thought is that possibly they’ve slowed Chris down a bit because he is a bit bulkier than Leon was – in fact, he’s not just a bit bulkier, he’s HUMONGOUS. The guy has shoulders so large no wonder Sheva has a problem standing next to him, he’s too damn big. Not functional.

Hopefully the control complaints will be silenced later tonight when I’m hoping to hook up with my friend Sweet D on XBL for some co-op action if I can find my old headset.

More to come.

-Tyler

Resident Evil 5 website

RE5 link on XBL: download the demo!

For everyone reading this that doesn’t know the Resident Evil 5 demo dropped on Live! today. I’ve only had a chance to check out one level and I don’t have time to do a writeup right now but I will get on that later today – unless I’m too busy playing the demo, which you should be playing or downloading RIGHT NOW. Go!

-Tyler

Had a chance to watch RE:Degeneration a few nights ago and it’s kind of been sitting in the back of my mind. The opening scene in the airport terminal was freaking amazing, and I immediately recognized one of the cops voices as the American voice of Onizuka from GTO (probably my favourite animé ever, watched in both Japanese with subs and dubbed English. I’m hardcore like that.)

The story is pretty much the standard for the Resident Evil franchise – something has gone horribly wrong, the T-Virus is let loose and someone we have played in previous games is there to fix it all.

Glenn, Miller and Kennedy

This time it’s Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy, seemingly right out of Resident Evil 4. The movie is like one long RE cutscene, which isn’t bad I just felt like I should have a controller in my hand for some of those awesome contextual button presses we all know so well from RE4. Paul Mercier and Salli Saffioti are back voicing Leon and Hunnigan (respectively) as well as Alyson Court as Claire Redfield, not having voiced the character since Code: Veronica in 2000.

All in all, the movie is fun and set in a universe I love (but am not all that familiar with, having only played about 3 of the titles) and should be given a shot – I wouldn’t say it’s a buy, unless you’re completely obsessed. But if you are completely obsessed you would have already bought it when it was released December 27th! Otherwise just pick it up at your local video store (if they’re cool enough to have a copy and the rest of your city/town/area is lame enough to leave it on the shelf for more than 5 minutes.)

-Tyler

I know it’s been a while, but I’ve been busy. Enough said.

I’ve got a lot to go over so hopefully I can get through everything I wanted to cover today; here goes:

Okami covers! Yes, the IGN watermark is not on these and I have to say that they are beautiful. I got them in the mail the other day (was sad to see only 2 then I realized that the original cover, less IGN watermark, is on the back of BOTH) and it was a very nice treat and a long time coming.

Next Mother3 fan translation patch released this week! I’ve not had the time to sit down with this one because I’ve been so busy with school and work and Halloween fast approaching but I do plan on taking most of November to eat turkey and play the English translation. Thanks to Chewy & Mato and the rest of the team over at The Mother3 Fan Translation site – I’ve been looking forward to this for almost 10 years and I’m fucking excited as hell! Also, go buy the Japanese version of the game! Remember it’s illegal to download a ROM unless you own the game!

There is a bunch of information over at the site about the Earthbound (Mother) series – including walkthroughs, an interview with Mother creator Itoi, and a link to a page that the M3FT has been working on in the background.

Continuing with Mother 3 news, a group of people are creating a guide for Mother 3 that imitates the classic guide that came with Earthbound. Complete with pictures of real clay figures similar to the artwork in it’s predecessor and a full walkthrough. For a $20 preorder (guide slated for release in early 2009) it’s certainly worth the price – especially with a free Courage Badge keychain and reduced shipping on Earthbound shirts when you order together!

Alright, on to comics this month. IDW released Ghostbusters: The Other Side this month. So far all I can say is: amazing. I’m a big fan of the artwork, similar to Stuart Immonen’s artwork from the recent issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, and the story is definitely shaping up to be a good ‘un!

I’m going to end this journal with a mention of a book I just started reading, it’s called “Alive in Necropolis” by Doug Dorst. I’m still not sure about where the story is going but it’s been a fun read so far – I should be done in the next couple of weeks, as I get 10 or so pages a night done before I get to bed, and I’m going to make sure I do a full review of the book (probably my first full review of a book outside on an English class. I’d suggest checking it out at your local library or buy it!

Until next time (hopefully less time than it took me to update this last time)

-Tyler

Well this is some awesome news – according to 4cr Capcom is finally sending out the Okami covers from MONTHS ago after the whole watermark “scandal”. In another apology (an apology nested in an apology? I’m starting to get confused) Capcom is apparently sending out all 3 of the covers. Score!

The Capcom website states that if you put in a redemption request that you’ll be seeing an email soon with information on when to expect your covers.

Very happy with Capcom right now – this has been a nice little treat.

[From 4 color rebellion » The Sun Finally Sets for Okami Covers]

Just a quick link to my photos from Comic-Con this year that I have yet to post here (everyone who reads this has probably already seen them though)… Comic-Con 2008 – Flickr

There was also a bunch of fanboy moments caught in these picture sets – something I try not to do, because celebrities are people too… but c’mon! It was fuckin’ Ron Perlman! And Felicia Day… and, and Amy Okuda! And the rest of The fuckin’ Guild!

Also, I just updated ecto and it quit on me while it downloaded and restarted itself and everything I had typed (stupidly without saving) came back up. I’m totally loving this blogging software! Any blogger with a Mac should check this shit out.

-Tyler

I got to the con a little bit earlier today than yesterday, it was really nice knowing that there was a tram that ran right from where I was staying to the convention center – it saved about 3 hours of trying to find parking, yes, Comicon is that fucking insane.

I got back around to the Ghostbusters VG booth and met the canon 5th Ghostbuster – Ryan, one of the developers. The guy was really awesome, and loves the property as much as I do. He was really interested in what everyone had to say about the game. After playing it I only had ONE complaint (that I didn’t get a chance to tell him because he had left for lunch) and that was when the characters put away their throwers the animation is not realistic. That’s it. Something in a game about catching ghosts that doesn’t look right because it’s so difficult as to being almost impossible.

After that I ended up collecting a nifty con exclusive LEGO Joker and Batman that I will probably end up giving to one of my friends (he loves LEGOs and I missed his birthday this weekend.) Swagged some other nifty, useless stuff. I’ll probably post a picture on Monday or something.

I saw the entire Guild cast standing around taking in a huddle and I decided not to bother them and just find them while they’re signing later.

I was excited to meet quite a few people that I’d missed on Friday. Wil Wheaton (I got his book “Happiest Days” and talked to him for a bit and he was cool, there’s another story here and I’ll tell that a little later on); Scott Kurtz from PvP, the Candyman, Ken Foree and Cassandra Peterson (awesome lady, I did not expect her to be dressed as Elvira but surprisingly enough she was!) and got my picture with most of them.

I also met Amy & Felicia from The Guild and I think I kind of freaked Felicia out a bit, which kind of sucks. They told me the rest of the cast was signing upstairs and I went and found them (getting my picture taken with an awesome Red Power Ranger on the way) and they were very cool! Robyn and Sandeep were very enthusiastic about the Ghostbuster uniform and Robyn was even more excited when I came back with the pack on. I got a few pictures with them and they all turned out… well, so many people were taking pictures of us it got a little confusing. But there was a picture with Vince, Robyn and Jeff that turned out great and the one where Sandeep jumped in that two of us were looking at different cameras. Oh well, it was a very “Zaboo!” moment.

After that the con was kind of winding down and I stuck around for part of the Masquerade showing in one of the satellite showing rooms since I didn’t know Ballroom 20 wasn’t filled to capacity. I left just as there was a chick dancing around as Emma Frost and there was a nip slip and the lights went OUT. I felt really bad for the lady, but come on… who doesn’t wear pasties underneath a tube top? Not that I’m complaining.

After that it was back to the friends place and slept in the tub ’cause there was snoring.

Yay cons.

-Tyler

Comicon has been great so far. Been able to play some of the Ghostbusters game, very fun, need to check it out some more today (Saturday) and I also couldn’t help but notice – Marvel Nemesis 2? Wasn’t Marvel Nemesis a huge steaming pile of crap? Don’t shake your head I bought it, I know how huge and steamy and smelly it was.

Checked out the WB booth and got some cool interior (and a few exterior) shots of Night Owl’s ship (think it’s screen used from Watchmen.) Didn’t swag anything from that booth, so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for swag-ing shit. I gave up on doing the little scavenger hunt for LEGO Joker pieces, and when I was feeling more up to it they apparently had run out of heads and stopped doing it for the day.

Web of Shadows looks pretty damn cool, I didn’t hunker down and play any of it but that’s why there’s 2 days left at the con. I also need to check out the Warhammer Online MMO. I went by what seemed to be the conglomeration of awesome webcomic artsts and writers – met R.K. Milholland of something*positive, his girlfriend Rinny (dressed at Zatanna, sooo cute), and Jennie Breeden from The Devil’s Panties, and got a picture with the three of them. I also met the writer/artist from Two/Lumps and he was a very awesome guy, he had been doing a few sketches so I didn’t want to bother him with another – hopefully I can stop by and get a sketch from him today!

I dropped by the Penny-Arcade booth and met Jerry & Mike… and honestly I was less than impressed. I don’t know if I managed to piss them off in the few seconds I was there but they did not seem happy that I was there at all. Maybe I cut off a line or something that I just didn’t see. But the two of them were just sitting there doing nothing. Oh well, I didn’t expect them to be really cool and kiss readers asses – because their pay-grade is way beyond false appreciation of fans. That’s not to say that they don’t appreciate their fans, I’m sure they do. Whatever slight they concocted for me to have committed I hope it was something as awesome as flipping off a box of kittens or punching a baby.

More later,

-Tyler

Dead Rising: Wii Edition?

[...]Dead Rising for the Wii will be a port of the Xbox 360’s zombie hack-fest with a few added features. This updated game will see more weapons, motion controls and a new boss for Frank West to smack around with potted plants and golf clubs[...]

Since I don’t own a 360 I haven’t had the pleasure of playing through all of Dead Rising but now that it’s coming to the Wii I have one less reason to buy a 360. Damn. I’m still working on getting one for a few reasons: Mirror’s Edge, Resident Evil 5, and Ghostbusters.

For those of you who haven’t seen or heard: Microsoft cut the price of the XBox 360 Pro system by $50. Which means I’m $50 closer to getting one. So far E3 this year has been shaping up to be pretty awesome for us consumers and I am pretty sure Comic-Con this year is going to blow the announcements from E3 out of the water.

[From 4 color rebellion » Dead Rising: Attack of the Ports]