thirdworldgamer

Just picked up Tekken Tag Tournament 2 from Data Blitz the other day on launch. There has been a lot of good feedback from many gamers the world over about its netcode. Well, those gamers are in first-world countries so their connections are much better than ours over here in the Philippines, where our major telecommunications providers won't even interconnect with each other because of their business interests. Fighting game network code has not been so great for many games now, but the most recent releases like VF5FS and Persona 4 Arena have proven that it really is possible to have good online matches with fighting games. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 represents the next big evolution in online network play for fighting games. It comes with a ton of extra features just for online mode, include a detailed statistics-collecting website that connects with your game to let you know more about your own personal progress. It's a step in the right direction for the genre. While it is t...

Picked up Persona 4 Arena for the PS3 a few days ago. I've spent a little time with it and it's a great game. Atlus's Persona universe coupled with Arc System Works' grasp of fighting gameplay is a great combination. I only worry that this game will fall through the cracks, with TTT2 already due in a few weeks. Quick run through of my thoughts on it: The actual fighting game engine seems smoother than Blazblue, and the user interface is incredibly flashy. At times I find myself just admiring how good the UI is for this game. Really simple for starters. All characters get a 'Mash weak punch' combo....basically you can just press one button, and get your character to do cool things that end with a super combo. Really nice, at least for me....I've never played the arcade version so this makes it feel worthwhile even if you just play it casually. Story mode is done in Japanese 'Visual Novel' style. Will probably turn a lot of people off; it works f...

Long time no post...been busy with work but still gaming on the side when I have the time. One thing I have been trying to fix for practically months now is getting NAT TYPE 3 on my Playstation 3 when connected wirelessly via a Linksys WRT120N Router connected to Globe Telecom's PROLINK Modem/Router. NAT TYPE 2 is the ideal set up to find games online easily and to connect to more players. I'll probably update this post some time later today to clarify some things...in a rush because I'm also working... Here was my setup before: Linksys WRT120N - Has DHCP Server On - Getting an IP address from the Globe modem of 192.168.254.x Prolink Modem from Globe - Apparently also a router of some kind - The public/dynamic(?) IP address from Globe was in this device and not in the WRT120N device, as evidenced by an address that was not 192.168.x.x - Username and password was in the Prolink device. After reading a LOT of information online, including this one: http://co...

So out of curiosity I made a Japanese PSN account. In sfxtk matchmaking I noticed that, most of the time, players in Japan appear with yellow or green bars. Every other game had 0 to 1 bar. I was getting annoyed sitting there waiting for games on the Ranked Match screen half the time...so I guess this was worth a try.... Making a Japanese PSN account was easy...the form fields are almost the same as the others, and the postal code had no validation so I just put in a lot of 1's. When I looked for games in Endless Battle, all the games that appeared had yellow bars! I was able to play a lot of practically lag free games thanks to this! Some other positives: - spectator mode works! - ranked match fight request occurs very often -fewer rollbacks This is on a 2mbps Globe connection. So if you're on Globe Telecom DSL and are loathing the fact that you always get laggy games from the USA, try making a JP account. The net code really shines on good connections! I'm on PSN as takes...

- Launch it from FULL SCREEN by pressing up + forward after he jumps - Launch it at clutch time; usually its safe - Depending on your distance from your opponent, adding up + forward can make it cross up!

Even more on Super Street Fighter 4: - Okay, Ken didn't get completely screwed after all. His Shoryuken is much better than before, and nothing beats the poking range of his jumping roundhouse kick (for guys without uppercuts/anti-airs). - M.Bison is my new favorite character, and I've picked him as my main now. I love all the options he has and how there's more variety to playing him than the usual shotos. - Ryu and Sagat seem to feel like the same characters but with far less damaging attacks. Then again, the whole cast's damage was decreased, so matches last very long now. - Online is probably 75% good, 25% bad. The 25% being that you will still get those matches that lag horribly, regardless of region select. But yeah, the netcode is still better than vanilla SF4. - What happened to all that storyline stuff they set up in vanilla SF4? It's as if they never happened. Too bad Capcom doesn't want to take too many risks with the storylines for their main charact...

After a few days of play, here's what I thought.... 1. I realized that Ken seems to have gotten screwed again with his new Ultra. It seems useless since you can just sit underneath it and not even get chip damage....poor guy. 2. Ryu's Medium dragon punch prevents trading hits, and hits twice! Yay! 3. Guile's sonic boom does charge faster, but it seems harder to combo for me from low punch - medium punch to sonic boom consistently. It's easier to combo M.Bison's scissor kick from low or medium kicks. 4. Juri is the most interesting new character in this game (in terms of moveset and potential). Too bad her voiceover is horrific! (I should switch it to Japanese --- is it any better?) 5. Is it just me, or has everyone forgotten about the last four 'new' characters, Abel, Rufus, C.Viper and , what's his name again? El Fuerte? I dunno, I just don't feel like using them in SSF4 for no apparent reason....just IMHO 6. Saving replays automatically = win! Bein...

Just got my copy of Super Street Fighter IV from Data Blitz! Here are my impressions so far: 1. Lots of ONLINE features - after playing with my friend I was surprised to see how nearly all of our online match replays were saved automatically in the Player Data -> Battle Log channel! That was a really nice feature, that it automatically saves like that. And you can pick the ones you can save permanently 2. It will feel like Street Fighter IV 'Plus' - Essentially, it still is Street Fighter IV, which explains the lower price tag....but all the new characters and extra features make it worth it. It was nice of Capcom to charge a bit less for it. The game is really not just DLC + SFIV because of all the stuff they crammed in. 3. Netcode - I was on Globe (2 Mbps) and my friend was on Smart bro. Got 3 bars in our match. Lag was occasionally noticeable but mostly manageable. I've yet to try more than just one other player for online play, so I can't tell yet how much of an ...

Played quite a bit of Final Fantasy XIII recently. Here are my first impressions of the game: There are times when I like the game, like when cutscenes play or when in a good boss fight. The cutscenes are really beautifully rendered and are quite enjoyable to watch. The voice acting is okay, generally speaking; it's within the level of most other video games (re: don't expect Oscar-award winning acting, but it's bearable). There are times when I really hate the game, when it gives you these long dungeons with repeating enemies that seemingly have incredible amounts of HP; some regular enemies seem to take 30 minutes or more to take down. I hate how the game overuses the theme song that was in the E3 trailer. The music is very repetitive and Square didn't bother to make music suited for each character or situation. Some boss fights use the exact same music as battles with regular enemies, which reduces the overall impact of some scenes. There are also moments when the mu...

Sony can take the risk and release the Playstation 3 here. What about Microsoft? With all the rumors on Natal and the new 'Slim' Xbox 360, it would actually be good timing for them to unveil a new marketing strategy for Asia, and include more countries for Xbox Live. So, is Microsoft going to let the opportunity in Asia slip by their fingers? Sony really does rule this territory; their mindshare with the Playstation brand remains very strong, and perhaps Xbox's failings in Japan even make this more evident. Is Microsoft just focused on the western markets? Will they let possibly millions of dollars in potential profit just go to waste by continuing to ignore the Asian market? You've really got to hand it to Sony; they've got guts to release high-end electronics like the Playstation 3 in places like the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As income levels in these places rise, Sony is establishing their foothold as *the* console brand of choice for the main...

More craziness abounds regarding official support for console gaming in the Philippines: http://asia.playstation.com now lists the Philippines as an officially supported country for the Playstation brand!

I was in Glorietta this evening; lo and behold...! It begins tomorrow! From the Facebook group page , here's the schedule of events for the PLAYSTATION 3 PHILIPPINE LAUNCH this weekend, March 27 to 28 at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati! DAY 1: March 27, 2010 2:00pm: Official Opening of PlayStation Exhibit plus Onsite Registration for competitions (COSPLAY Fashion, COSPLAY Battlefield Competition and PlayStation Race) 3:30pm - 4:00pm: Band Performance by EEVEE 4:00 pm- 5:30 pm: COSPLAY Fashion followed by COSPLAY Battlefield 5:30pm - 6:00pm: PlayStation Race 6:00pm - 6:25: Awarding of Winners 6:00pm - 7:00pm: Band Performance by PUPIL DAY 2: March 28, 2010 10:00am – Exhibit Opens 12:00pm – Physical Registration of contestants for PSP and PS3 Games (PS3 Ridge Racer 7 / PSP Tekken : Dark Resurrection) 2:00pm – Simultaneous Elimination Games 4:30pm – Band Performance by LETTER DAY STORY 5:00pm – Celebrity Showdown 5:30pm - Finals game for PSP 6:00pm – Finals game for PS3 6:30pm...

1. Warranty Details - are units bought before the launch date covered? Or, at least, is there a repair option available? 2. Playstation Network - Will there be a 'Philippines' region? Will there be locally available PSN cards in peso denominations? I guess the major question here is, how much of a launch will this be? Is it a... a. Full blown launch - all features available in other countries will be available here b. Hardware launch - The PS3, PSP and its hardware and software will be sold, and not much else. Either of the two is possible---and to be honest, I'm keeping my expectations in check. It is still good to know this is really happening. 3. Games - will games get cheaper? Or at least, will games stay at the same prices you could get them in grey market retail shops? What region will the games be? Personally, I hope it's Region 3, so they're the same price as the games sold in neighboring Asian countries. 4. Marketing - Is Sony going all the way with this? W...

UPDATE: I wrote this post a few days before Sony officially announced their local launch. Sony Philippines is launching the Playstation 3 in the Philippines on March 27-28, with a launch event at the Glorietta Activity Center. It's great news for Filipino gamers everywhere! For more information, check out this page. For a few years, me and my wife have learned a lot about gaming here in the Philippines. With the birth of our son recently, our priorities have changed. We do still love gaming but we no longer can devote that much time to promoting it as a hobby. That said, all that wealth of experience that we learned as Xbox MVPs would just go to waste if I didn't write this post. I write this not as an Xbox fan, but as a gamer, and personally if it really does come to pass that Sony is launching a game console here, it's nothing short of a miracle, and to have it happen after we did all those things before feels like one of those 'you get what you wished for, but not ex...

It's official - Sony is releasing the Playstation 3 officially in the Philippines! This marks an important milestone for console gaming and for gamers in our country. Finally - some official support! http://www.sony.com.ph/microsite/PS2010/PlayStation_Mar2010_Newsletter.html Sony Philippines, Inc. invites you to the first PlayStation Event in Philippines on March 27 and 28 at the Glorietta Activity Center. Enjoy the extensive display of the full PlayStation line-up, try out the newest game offerings and watch the hottest bands perform onstage. Up for grabs are brand new PlayStation 3 , ( PSP ) PlayStation Portable and limited edition PlayStation premium items by simply joining any of the following activities: * COSPLAY Fashion - Come in your best Anime /PS game character COSPLAY attire and strut your stuff to win a brand new PlayStation 3 * COSPLAY Battlefield - Create a 2 minute Battle/Fight Scene Simulation with 2 other friends and win 1 PSP each * PlayStation Amazing Race ...

Note that the date is based on an Internet rumor, and what used to be on the asia.playstation.com/ph/en site (which got pulled)

Picked up the '2010 Bravia/Summer Fever 2010' local catalog from the Sony store in Park Square. It had an ad for the Playstation 3 in there.... Looks like this PS3 launch thing is really happening. (Why no picture? I've got an important day job and I've only five minutes to blog about gaming stuff....Take my word for it, this is real. Or you can just visit the Sony store in Park Square and see for yourself....)

So recently I've been hearing a lot of rumors about the Playstation 3 launching officially in my corner of the globe. I'm really happy to hear this news and it's great news for all gamers here in my country, whether you prefer Xbox, Nintendo or Windows/PC -based gaming. Why? It's a bit of recognition that games are a big deal, and the industry is here to stay. The rumors I've read say that: The PS3 will be 18,000 pesos It will come with a 2 year warranty The site http://asia.playstation.com/ph/en now says it is launching on MARCH 26 - an actual date!

http://asia.playstation.com/ph/en Great news for Pinoy gamers!