An ident I made for giantbomb.com... who doesn't like explosions?

WHAT?

Ok, Dzjaansis asked nicely (not so much) for a Dark Knight sig. I just watched the movie on Friday and I really think it was the best film I've ever watched, ever.

I don't collect movies, but I'll be getting this on Blu Ray the second it comes out... but yeah, I was still in love with it, so here it is Wim:



Of course to keep up with my latest blog feature thing, heres another strip:



Oh yeah, you've proably seen the GameSpot BETA by now... I kinda like it, might just keep here longer than going to Giant Bomb.

Let's start with me moaning about work again. OK, not really moaning, more like make fun of it and myself in this little strip!



Putting that aside, everyone seems to be jumping ship (wrong use of expression, since GameSpot isn't really going under) but yeah. Everyone is going to Giant Bomb... I've made an account with the same username. But I'll shuffle the two sites for a bit, although those guys a doing a pretty good job and I want to support them.

Anywho, here's another comic strip thing because I'm on fire. Been reading way too much Penny Arcade lately. VOTE KNUCLES, it's a bit late, I know but after the E3 Sonic Unleashed gameplay videos, I lost all hope on the Werehog.



But yeah... can't this of any more stuff, so I guess that's enough for... oh wait no! Naruto: Ultimate Ninja STORM is pretty cool, been playing the demo I can't wait... till November.

It's no secret, I'm a big Sony supporter but I don't consider myself a 'fanboy'. Today's Final Fantasy XIII exclusivity announcement shocked even me though and it did make me wonder what the hell is Sony doing?

People love exclusives and it does help to justify that massive price tag sometimes. But again, getting caught up in all the internet forum excitement and overreaction, people tend to make a small thing bigger than it actually is.



So yeah I bet some people out there got angry enough to do something they might regret! Chillax... in the long run, the profits Squenix makes will be good for them, their games and the industry as a whole.

It's not like the game was cancelled on PS3 or anything!

Hey peeps, haven't had time to reply to your blogs lately, I'll read them all soon. Been busy doing some work experience. I'll be working on a short film this summer, so am busy busy busy!



Not busy enough to stop playing games however... I blasted MGS4: Sons Of The Patriots last night on Big Boss Hard level and I'm going to replay it to get some more stuff. What do I think of the game? It's epic, I even made this special emblem for it.



There are parts when you play that make you feel like Kojima is a genius, which we kinda already knew. There are some parts that could annoy you, maybe because I was only able to carry 5 Rations and Snake's health was tiny. And there are some bits that drag on for ages and some moments that shock you to no end example "spoiler1", "spoiler2" and "spoiler3".



It's been a while since I cleared a game so quickly, 20 hours even after taking my time with it, and I still jumped right back in. I'm giving this one a 10, because after all the ups and downs this game, for me at least was the best story driven interactive entertainment experience ever. E3, Nuff said!

Plus the visuals are just amazing! Really it's not only about the gameplay people.

What a long and for the most part boring story. Although the ending kinda made me glad I played through it... I thought the game lacked a lot of what I liked from previous Final Fantasies. Don't get me wrong, it's still good, just lacking on some areas.



Most if not all the bosses were merely guardians of something, so they didn't really have any importance. Final boss Vayne was just this character the game made you fight, just because you had to. Unlike Sephiroth or Maester Seymour I didn't really fear him, I just smacked him like all the other bosses finishing the game without much sense of accomplishment.

I will still do the side quests and stuff since I can't get enough of the Gambit and ADB systems. I also want to get my characters to Level 99. Currently at Level 50, I boosted from Level 39 in like 5 hours thanx to an Auto-Levelling trick.

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Here's a random link that you should click, if you want to read something totally unrelated to this blog post!

EDIT: I cleared GTAIV last week, all in preparation for MGS4. I don't think I'll have time for Portable Ops though, which I haven't touched for months!

Who in GameSpot approved a rating of 8.5 for this game?
Where was this game hiding all of my life?
What was I thinking when I decided to play it in the dark?
Why aren't the developers famous and rich for making it?

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Answer me those four questions please... I've been playing Condemned 2: Blood Shot for the last couple hours, in the dark, and it's been a long time since a game left me on the edge of my seat like that! It's awesome, it's mad and it has some seriously disturbing fun!



This game deserves a far better rating than what it's been given... only problem I've had so far is when using L1+R1 for blocking and L1 or R1 for left or right attacks, respectively I tend to button mash too much thus messing my fights up especially when the combos kick in. But you can't help it, the game creeps you out and staying calm can be tough sometimes.



So there, I haven't finished it yet, and I'm giving it a 9.5 just for that. I didn't even mentioned the interesting story, wicked voice acting, graphics, sound effects, violence and stuff! I'm drooling!

EDIT: Leaving the score at 9.5 now that I've cleared the game. Now back to GTAIV, I really need to finish that one before MGS4!

Finished the theme for Butters782, who won the competition I had on the last couple blogs. A second competition might be on it's way, which will be much harder but greater reward I think!



Also the banner for the runner up winner stephanime...



Manbearpig RAWKS!

I'm back baby! Done with uni, handed the last of my work (essay which was a pain to write) last night! I'm just chilling now!

Instead of doing some uni work, I decided to replace my old website with the design I've been working on for the last couple months. Still not complete yet, but I couldn't wait to release it.



I tweaked it a bit from the previous alteration and fixed the Internet Explorer issue that made the site align left. Damn, it even works on the PS3. No new content am afraid, except for some graphics and logo. Also I removed the search bar for the time being, it never returned any results!

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COMPETITION: GameSpot Exclusive

Seeing that most of my views are from GameSpot links in the first place, I thought I'd make a competition for my peeps. First person to get the question right wins a custom made Theme (as in Banner, Avatar and Blog Image) by yours truly, tailored to their exact specifications. Second and Third to get it right will get a banner made for them.

QUESTION: What is the name of Evil Teddy's owner who abandoned him for video games years ago?

TIP: LATEST ART on homepage, but Evil Teddy was drawn in 2006!

Thought I'd update my Blog with a new theme. By doing so I'm also bringing back the old, nearly dead tradition of regular themes for my blog.



I've just been stressed a lot lately, it's like my head is filled with nuclear thoughts of mass destruction that are set to blow up at any moment.

Exlpoad!

Unless you have been living under a rock, like me, you must have heard of Derrick Comedy. These guys are hilarious. I started watching their videos, featured in College Humor, and instantly loved them. My favorites are:

Bro Rape: A Newsline Investigative Report


Memory Loss


Wink


The rest of them are pretty cool too. Their website says that their currently working on a full length film, I'm sure it's gonna be awesome!

After playing COD4 extensively I tried out the Haze demo today, which was kinda cool. Although I'm still not sure whether I'll buy it or not, I found out that I was having a hard time controlling it. I'm so used to aiming then shooting (red dot sight anyone?) that Haze kinda felt weird.



Will there ever be another FPS that'll let me play that way again? Looks like it! I just watched some new videos of Killzone 2 at GamerSyde, and not only does the new level shown look awesome but it suggests that you can aim and shoot COD 5tyle. The game itself is looking aight, let's hope it doesn't suck like Iron Man (jinx)!



My fingers are still frozen, COD4's controls are like second nature or something!

I can't believe this! Three Point Eight?

IGN just gave Iron Man a 3.8 Review, I was hoping this game would pave the way to a new world where video games made from films were actually good (from what the developers said and all the cool videos we were shown)!

But meh, same old Spider Man avenue. I guess there is no more hope left for such games.

Been a while since I've watched a good anime, but I think Sword Of The Stranger got everything right!



Production values are high. I mean everything here was done in not-your-average anime way. It has some really well done animation. You not only get a good sense of speed from the way the greatly drawn characters move but every time a collision takes place you can almost feel it. A good use of 3D models for some of the complex objects and backgrounds that didn't seem out of place but instead fit perfectly within the 2D world.

I liked the characters. I thought the kid, Katarou was cheeky but really interesting. The swordsman with no name (Nanashi) is your regular samurai hero but we are not told why he chose not to fight. It definitely has something to do with his past, but his friendship with Katarou drives him to defeat the bad guys, who are a bunch of pill-popping, mean foreigners. Of course we have the loyal dog Tobimaru who can really take a chunk off someone's neck!

The music... let me put it this way. I was listening to the credits soundtrack again and again as I wrote this. It just felt relaxing I think, and worked well to draw you into the film. Also the sound effects were done right. It helped to emphasize the force of what you see on screen.

The story in this case, wasn't too clear to me. I was able to follow it, but kinda hard with subs. But hey, who cares! They had to save the kid from being a sacrifice so thats enough reason to stab people.

9/10 - Maybe it's just because I've watched too much Naruto!

WTF? Sorry I kinda skipped the countdown started in the last two posts. Opened the game in the evening since I had to do some compulsory training at work, 10AM-5PM man.



But yeah, the game is exactly what I expected. This ain't a review since loads of sites have already done that. But all of them were right to give this game a 10/10, it's awesome you HAVE no reason not to get it, even age. Wait I shouldn't have said that!



At first I thought they missed something... they managed to pack everything into the LockBox, which is kinda neat. Dunno what to put in there though!



Kinda like an early Christmas present, LOL! The bag is of ok quality and the Official Artwork is cool. It shows some early concepts for Niko and some other cool artwork. Also I needed a new key ring so I can't complain.



As for the music CD, I wasn't really feeling some of the tracks. But the game has loads of awesome music and since Rock Star has a plan to sell the music through the game, they couldn't possibly put their best tracks on the CD!

So yeah! (I should have rotated the images actually, oh well!)

Hey, sorry for the late post... but IGN's Review is out. 10/10, read it HERE yourself. But yeah, this is what I was on about!



Man I can't sleep, I'm tingling with excitement!

EDIT: Play.Com has just posted my Special Edition. Now it's all up to you Royal Mail, or whatever!

Hype, hype, hype! Most people on my PSN friends list are messaging me about GTAIV... some of them have even changed their comment to something GTAIV related. We are getting very, very close now with only five days left. Could this game really sell a whole lot of copies?



Hell yeah it will... so I hope you've all booked days off work or go sick from school, hehe and add me to your PSN if you wanna hang around Liberty City, baby!

PS: In the mean time, I'm getting the COD4 map pack, gonna blast through that in the weekend.

I can't believe this. Mortal Kombat Vs DC Comics. WTF? No 'M' Rating... what the hell is this?



It's amazing how many of the 2D games that I grew up with, keep getting progressively worse with every other 3D version they bring out. Yes, looking at you Sonic! Mortal Kombat wasn't too bad, in fact I enjoyed a few of them, but now adding BatMan to the mix... really now!

I say, take everything back to the basics, like what Street Fighter 4 is doing and forget all the gimmicks.

NOTE: I think BatMan would have a hard time fighting Sonya, let alone Sub-Zero.

LOL, I checked Blizzards WOW site and found this today. A new Cla55 called the Bard Hero Cla55. I was like nice, until I saw the MAD gameplay screenshots and I was like, hah!