thirdworldgamer

It's now official. I simply can't look at RPGs the same way again. Oblivion. That's what happened to me. I can't possibly imagine how those mad geniuses at Bethesda could have created this game. Oblivion is a game that you have *never* experienced before, an entire fantasy world, living and breathing right before you, and not totally depending on you for it to exist or to matter at all. Oblivion. Play it, and you will understand. Score for Oblivion: 12/10

May 8 2006 will forever be remembered as the Xbox 360 Vindication Day. This is the day when Sony shocked the world by disappointing their fans, when it turned out that their very expensive game console was really no more powerful than the Xbox 360. On May 8, 2006, it turned out that Xbox 360 gamers had a next-generation system after all. For an entire year, the gaming press and misinformed gamers berated the 360 for the lack of CG quality visuals; not realizing that such powerful technology can't really be stuffed into a sub-$500 box with only 512MB of RAM. Microsoft and their fans had to endure ridicule upon ridicule over the slightest jaggy or the slightest drop in framerate, all simply because the juggernaut that was the Playstation 3 was at hand. Ironic, then that it turned out that the Playstation 3 would have the same problems, and would be far worse off in many cases. A more expensive game machine being LESS POWERFUL, LESS COMPELLING, and LESS INNOVATIVE THAN THE COMPETITIO...

NOTE: This article has recently been updated (as of August 12, 2006). Singapore no longer lets you input '00000' as your zip code. Please see below for alternate zip codes. So you're a Filipino living in the Philippines with a brand-spanking new Xbox 360. You've heard about all the wonderful stories on Xbox Live. You happen to have a pretty good broadband connection. One day, you try out the Xbox Live sign-up options on your 360, and you find out to your dismay that your country is NOT listed. What do you do? Now, you can probably enjoy your 360 without live at all, but I have to tell you: YOU ARE MISSING OUT. As Peter Moore said in the recent MS Press Conference: "Having your 360 connected to Xbox Live is as vital as having your computer connected to the Internet". He is so damned right. I've been playing on Xbox Live for almost a year now (both on my original Xbox and the Xbox 360). Essentially I found out all of this with a little bit of research, a lit...

In my opinion, if you support Sony's Playstation 3, essentially you're telling them that it's alright to give huge promises to your customers and not keep them. It may be all about the games, true; but doesn't your trust (or lack thereof) in a company to deliver promised features also factor into your buying decisions? As consumers, if you get a Playstation 3, essentially you're letting them 'get away with' what they pulled last year. And no doubt, if Sony succeeds this generation, they will use these marketing tactics again. Heck, if Sony succeeds this generation, most likely both Microsoft and Nintendo will follow their lead and start using the same deceptive practices as Sony just to win consumers...in the end, we encourage these big console makers to continue to lie to us if we let Sony win. The pressure to deliver 'real-time' results IMO makes these three companies work harder to deliver truly next-generation games and experiences. Now it is tru...

If you're a well informed gamer, by now you've seen all three conferences by Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. To make this brief, Sony screwed up. Big time. The price of the Playstation 3 is incredible. Unprecedented. Of course it's been done before by other game companies but no console manufacturer has ever succeeded at the price point that they chose for the playstation 3. They're in deep trouble. I'll repost soon when I find the time; for now, visit this message board thread HERE for interesting insight on Sony . Yes, it's mostly negative and against what occured during their conference, but it's the truth. You can do your own research and you will come up with the same conclusion. I'll post further insights soon...

Before anything else, let me get a few things straight. First, I'm looking forward to E3 2006 a lot and I enjoy the show. Second, I own multiple consoles but I'm currently favoring the XBOX 360. Now that I have that over with, let me present you the freshest marketing BS for the 2 consoles that will be debuting (hopefully) this year. Nintendo Wii http://wii.nintendo.com/ Introducing...Wii. As is "we". While the code-name "Revolution" expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. Wii will break down that wall that separates video game players from everybody else. Wii will put people more in touch with their games..and each other. But you're probably asking: what does the name mean? Wii sounds like "we", which emphasizes this console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just W...

It's E3 next week. Both Nintendo and Sony will be unveiling their new hardware and their games, so we will have a good idea of what their new consoles can really offer. Up to this point, all we've been hearing from those two sides are all promises. We are about to find out if they're going to deliver. Next week there's going to be a LOT of knee jerk reactions to what will be shown at E3, much like last year. Hardcore gamers, most especially, are going to be very myopic about everything that will be shown. Conclusions will be drawn from early graphics, hardware will be judged from poor software...all of those things are going to happen next week. It's quite clear to me that the media is going to paint the picture that they're going to want you to see, and from what I've been seeing, they're more in favor of the old guard of the console industry---the continued leadership of Sony and Nintendo. While I have a lot of respect for those two companies, I feel t...

You can't stay forever at the top of the mountain on the leaderboards in Ridge Racer 6. So when I retook the #2 spot on the leaderboards for CL4 Rave City Riverfront R (Technically the #1 spot because the car at number 1 is a HIJACK, an overpowered vehicle), I made sure to immortalize my moment of glory:

April 25, 3:41 PM...A message board post on neogaf forums leaks supposedly insider information: I just got a release list from Bethesda....first one in a while. I gave it a quick glance then did a double take and spit take with my morning coffee.....take a look: PS2 AMF Extreme Bowling 2006 (Mud Duck) 9-May-06 XBX AMF Extreme Bowling 2006 (Mud Duck) 9-May-06 PS2 IHRA Sportsman Edition 9-May-06 XBX IHRA Sportsman Edition 9-May-06 PS2 Pirates Of The Caribbean:Legend of Jack Sparrow 1-Jun-06 PS2 Star Trek - Battlestations 6-Oct-06 360 Star Trek - Legacy 6-Oct-06 DS Star Trek - Tactical Assault 6-Oct-06 PSP Star Trek - Tactical Assault 6-Oct-06 PS3 Oblivion 6-Nov-06 PSP Oblivion 6-Nov-06 A few hours later, this simple message board post becomes news all over the internet: IGN - Oblivion on PSP and PS3? 1up - Oblivion Heading To PS3, PSP? Bethesda's epic RPG is getting cozy with Sony. Gamespot Rumor Control - Oblivion coming to PS3...and PSP? Appa...

Ever since I first stepped into the XBOX community one of the things that they felt really sore about was the utter lack of Japanese support for the console. All logic will say was that most Japanese developers were not keen on making games for the XBOX 360 since it was a new and unproven console. But plainly speaking it wasn’t embraced by the Japanese developers since the Japanese market didn’t bother much with it. Other the usual complaints about its size, the XBOX was a complete and utter failure in Japan with the exception of Itagaki. Itagaki made such a big splash in the Japanese and Western markets by creating games that actually took advantage of the strength of the XBOX. Namely ‘Ninja Gaiden’ and the ‘Dead or Alive’ series. It’s also no surprise, that Itagaki’s unconventional thinking with regard to the Japanese market made him quite a celebrity both within and outside Japan . Tomonobu Itagaki, the real life Ninja Gaiden Itagaki has stated that the ...

Recently, I've given my theory that IGN is actively swaying public opinion against the Xbox 360 because of their ties with Sony and their Playstation 3. New information has come to light which further supports my theory and solidifies my assertion that IGN is no longer a credible source for fair and balanced video gaming coverage. Thanks to ajreynol from the teamxbox.com forums for bringing this information to light. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you the perfect example of professionalism in gaming journalism: Source Thread from TEAMXBOX.COM IGN » Insider » Roundtable Roundtable #159: Broken 360s All I'm saying is my Dreamcast still works. by IGN Staff April 20, 2006 - David Clayman, IGN Insider: When the 360 was first released there were scattered reports of lemons and permanent crashes. A few weeks later there was a running joke in the office that inserting a DOA disc would result in a nuclear explosion. The list of editors who'd experienced the blinking ring of deat...

Continued... Hilary Goldstein, IGN Comics: The loading errors are an easy fix, Peer. Eject the disc, blow on it a few times, reinsert and hit power. Should work 22% of the time. John Miller, IGN Xbox, Xbox 360: Not only am I wary of MS's claim that the 360 problems are well within the "three to five" percent defect range, typical of consumer electronics -- I think it's a downright lie. As we move forward, console reliability should actually increase -- or at least stay the same -- not regress. We've had some kind of problem with every 360 in the office, be it a simple disc-read error or occasional freeze or even the downright system failure. I love the system when it works, but as a consumer, MS has made me want to wait for Nintendo and Sony to release their new consoles to make an educated purchase. Heck, MLB 2K6 doesn't even work on the system -- how the hell did that slip past the rigorous product testing MS supposedly puts games through. If it wasn't...

Today the Japan Conference for the Xbox 360 just ended, and, I don't know....after coming off a lot of discussions with gamers on different forums, I guess I'm getting sick and tired of them. Nothing ever, ever makes these gamers happy. It's extremely depressing to listen to them complain about everything from the lack of tiny particles on a screenshot to the lack of proper lighting effects on certain games, or whatever other graphical effect. Quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it. Whatever happened to looking forward to having a game for your platform? All it is now is, "The game has to have these graphical features/effects/whatever, or else it sucks." It's getting to me, to be honest. I was playing a game of Call of Duty 2, and my spirits were pretty sapped, because I had to stop and think, "Is this good enough?" What is good enough, anyway? Sometimes I ponder on retiring from video games, altogether. Because nothing is ever good enough.... I k...

A few weeks ago Sony has unveiled the PS3, or majority of what it is supposed to be, coupled with their online service offerings that a few months ago they had downplayed as unnecessary. At the Game Development Conference (GDC), Sony once again echoed the same news that Ken Kutaragi trumpeted in the Playstation Business Conference, this time under the guise of Phil Harrison coupled with a couple of more tech demos (hard to tell what they are anymore if its coming from Sony). Of course with the style of Sony Marketing, the sizzle always sells much more than the steak…and it works! Microsoft and Nintendo were also present at the GDC but compared to Sony’s sizzle these two guys are once again left out in the blue. Ken Kutaragi's motto: "Sell the Sizzle and not the Steak!" To its credit, Microsoft didn’t really want to create too much buzz around the XBOX 360, perhaps they want to save all the news they have for E3 2006. Instead they went to the GDC to peddle thei...

The media is indeed very powerful in controlling public perception. I know i've posted this earlier, but later on I will provide something that's worth thinking about. Note in the following comparisons how differently two media avenues cover the PS3. WARHAWK IGN says... In the demo, the game was shown with a full HUD of the new futuristic Warhawk ship. Across a massive battlefield, [b]you could see ambient warfare everywhere, with background battles raging far away from you. Our editors report great lighting, volumetric cloud effects, and incredibly fast motion. One of the coolest events involved burning pieces of capital ships raining down and falling into the gorgeous ocean below. Gaming Age says... Warhawk, while looking great, was essentially a barren section of ocean with a lot of fighter ships (they were aiming for a hundred for the final game) going around destroying larger vessels and some nice looking water (wave simulation with procedural animation) and clouds (volume...

I'll be honest. For the longest time I have stuck around the XBOX forums hoping that more fans will accept a more diverse XBOX game lineup, even if they may not be the epitome of amazing graphical wonder. I have defended, Japanese games primarily, from the default assault that come from the XBOX graphic whores. But as of late, I have come to realize one thing. That even if the XBOX 360 will produce the best games in Japan , the Japanese will never buy it. Even if Hironobu Sakaguchi will make the best RPG that we have ever seen, the Japanese will never buy the XBOX 360. Why? Because the XBOX 360 will never have the sheer quantity of Japan centric games when compared to Sony or Nintendo. The XBOX 360 will not have 50 default mediocre RPGs but instead will just have a handful really good ones. To the Japanese, its quite simple and practical...quantity is greater than quality and the top 100 Famitsu game list proves that. And that's the sad part. I saw the top 100 game list of the...