Lots of Pokémon goodness - my review of Pokémon Pearl

Hey! I know I haven't blogged in like two weeks or so but I've been busy doing schoolwork. But, I'm taking time now to do a review of Pokémon Pearl. It probably won't be much of one, but eh, I'm going to try.

I've been playing it since April 22nd (the day it came out), and logged roughly 30 hours on it and I have to say it's definitely a workout on the brain. Special Attacks vs. Normal Attacks, Type Attacks, etc etc is like a brain twister! But a good one, I suppose. Not all games can be a cakewalk, right?

The 8 Gym Leaders from various towns around the map are a lot tougher this time around, which isn't really a surprise because hey, gamers have to be kept on their toes. They're practically brutalizing the poor players. Overall they're a real treat because it's a lot more strategic than just taking the right types with you to a Pokémon Gym.

The visual styling is an absolute treat. Partial 3D environments really add depth to the world you're exploring. Sure, most things such as the characters themselves and the general people around the maps are in 2D, but that doesn't really detract from the overall beauty of the handheld game.

The storyline is pretty much the same as the others. You pick a character, they pick a starting pokémon (from left: you pick from Turtwig, a grass type, Chimchar, a fire type, and Piplup, a water type), then you go on a journey to gain 8 badges from the 8 Gym Leaders around the map while going against some evil organization, in this case Team Galactica who are trying to create a new world by using an exploiting powerful pokémon. Of course you have the usual little side-quests and lots of exploring while catching the little critters, and you have the mini-games like the Safari Zone and other areas. Then at the end of the game you battle what are known as the Elite Four, a group of über powerful trainers who you have to defeat in order to become the Pokémon Champion.

Nintendo/GameFreak really blew the lid off of these games. They expanded it and then just made it explode. You really get your money's worth.

Until next time, later folks.

Halo 3 Beta.. omfg! Rejoice!

Halo fanboys and fangirls rejoice!

The Halo 3 Beta will premiere on May 16th at 12AM PDT and run for three weeks until June 6th at 11:59 PDT. Anyone who purchased specially-marked copies of Crackdown, won a place through the "Rule of Three", or other regional promotions, will be able to go onto their Xbox Live Gold accounts, then download and play the beta game to enjoy a spiffy sneak peek at probably the most anticipated game of the year.

Keep in mind the game IS in beta, so it'll have all those quirky things we gamers love to hate when we think of our favorite games. Ahem, anyway, onto the goodies!

The beta will include three maps: Valhalla, Snowbound, and High Ground, but they'll only be playable in Matchmaker mode only, but you'll be able to choose which type you'll play, so hey, that's a good thing. In addition, there will be one or two levels not disclosed to the public, so keep your ears peeled, people.

It'll also include new weapons and a new vehicle. Weapooooons.. *drools* And another vehicle for people to smash into walls and mow down others! :D

Those weapons would be the Brute Spiker. Nasty, eh? Other weapons are the Spike Grenades (ouch much?), the MA5C Assault Rifle (whooo buddy, lookin' good!), and the infamous Spartan Laser (pretty... o.o). The new vehicle is the Mongoose.

Sounds like a helluva party, folks. Hope you Halo freaks got into the Beta. =P

Happy nuking people, you insatiable Halo players.

Xbox 360 Elite... Oooooooh... O_O

Heads up 360 fanboys... teehee~ no pun intended! The Xbox 360 is getting a facelift, or bodylift, whatever you want to call it. The HDD is bigger, meaner, and it's black! Woo! Click the picture above for a better view.

Microsoft confirmed that they're releasing what's been dubbed the Xbox 360 Elite. It costs a mere $479.99. Wow... only $79 more than it's 60GB cousin. It includes a 120GB harddrive, an HDMI cable port (it's basically a high-definition TV cable), a black wireless controller, and a headset.

Sounds yummy, doesn't it? Almost makes me wanna buy a 360 now xD.

Also being launched along side of it is black Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit ($19.99), a black 360 Rechargeable Battery ($11.99), and a black 360 Wireless Controller ($49.99). What a line-up, eh?

For those who already have a 360, there's also going to be a 120GB add-on drive released separately for $179.99, which will also have a data transfer cable from the 360 to the HDD. Unfortunately the 360 Elite isn't going to have this cable. Awww.. *pats the poor fanboys* poor babies. Fear not! Microsoft promised some sort of solution for anyone who decided to upgrade from the Premium and Core systems to the Elite.

Praise be to the Gaming Gods, ye fanboys and fangirls! Worship them well, for they provide plentiful bounties upon us!

It comes out on April 29th.

What the F#^@?!

This has got to be, by far, the funniest video I've ever seen off of Youtube. I know I'm deviating from posting about gaming news, which I'll do in a bit, but I just had to post this. It's the game Kingdom Hearts II with the song "The Internet Is For Porn" from the Broadway show Avenue Q. Kingdom Hearts 2 meets Broadway. Gotta love it.

More later on games.

kingdom hearts: final mix+ goodness!

Wheee! The newest Kingdom Hearts Final Mix + Trailer! Look at that trailer! Holy crap! *flails* If that ever came out over here (I REALLY HOPE IT DOES), it'll be so great.

The game contains two games, actually. Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, which is a remake of the GBA game Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

The series is basically about a boy named Sora who faces the darkness with the help of beloved Disney characters Goofy and Donald, and a host of others from various movies, as well as well-known Square-Enix characters from the Final Fantasy series. He tours the worlds, battling the darkness and saving the worlds, then the series has spawned a sequel, Kingdom Hearts II, as well as a bridge-type sequel in the form of KH: CoM. It's a highly recommended series, and not just by me, mind you. :P

What suckered me into the series in the first place was the fact that it has two great values in it in the guises of Disney themes and Final Fantasy. The music is wonderful (I have both soundtracks, I and II), and the gameplay is great. It's all-around a very creative game and has some of the most wonderful morals like valuing friendship, fighting evil, etc. If you like RPGs, pick this one up and its sequels.

On a last note, YOU BETTER RELEASE IT HERE SQUEENIX OR THE KINGDOM HEARTS MASSES WILL HUNT YOU DOWN WITH TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS! >=O

obligatory intro post

Okay, here's the skimmy. I'm going to do a generic blog about video games. I know there are a lot out there, but eh, this is my place to rant or rave about any particular aspect of video games I please. As far as gaming blogs go, I won't say mine will be unique in any way, but it'll be my little piece of space.

There are some things I am, and probably will be, biased toward, so I'll try my best to be fair. If you can get around that as the reader of this blog, then more power to you. If not, then you can obviously leave. ^-^

I love a lot of games and a few systems, but I'm more partial to Playstation, Nintendo DS, and Xbox360 (thanks Luis! >=O) as of late. Although I'm not impressed with what Sony has done to their game systems (yuck PSP and PS3!), their PS2 is the gem of their company. It's such a shame they're laying it to rest within the next year.

On another note, what I'm going to do in this blog is basically post about anything I find in video games and give my own opinions on it, and preview other things like conventions, very close-to-release games, and the like, though I may change it up at a later date and do something else.

Hope you enjoy reading. ^-^